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Lace Curtain for Mayor Daley

A work made of cor-ten steel, galvanized barbed wire, and enamel paint.
© 2018 Barnett Newman Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • A work made of cor-ten steel, galvanized barbed wire, and enamel paint.

Date:

1968

Artist:

Barnett Newman
American, 1905-1970

About this artwork

Known as an innovative abstract painter, Barnett Newman made a small but significant body of sculptural work, from which Lace Curtain for Mayor Daley stands out as uncommonly literal and blatantly political. Newman made this sculpture in the fall of 1968 for an exhibition organized by Chicago’s Richard Feigen Gallery as a forum for artists to protest the brutal treatment of anti–Vietnam War demonstrators during the previous summer’s Democratic National Convention, which was held in Chicago. Richard J. Daley, then mayor, was largely seen as responsible for the violent police tactics deployed. What Newman called a “Lace Curtain“ is in reality a hefty screen constructed from barbed wire and splashed with bloodred paint.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Barnett Newman

Title

Lace Curtain for Mayor Daley

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1968

Medium

Cor-ten steel, galvanized barbed wire, and enamel paint

Dimensions

177.8 × 121.9 × 25.4 cm (70 × 48 × 10 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Annalee Newman

Reference Number

1989.433

Copyright

© 2018 Barnett Newman Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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