backstory: The artist’s hand
A while back I wrote you about an experience I had when I was much younger, working as a curatorial assistant at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) and met with a donor who gave NMWA the plaster cast of Harriet Hosmer’s sculpture of the Clasped Hands of Elizabeth and Robert Browning.
The tradition of depicting makers’ hands is long. Last week the Neuberger staff took a field trip to the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at Pocantico to see the exhibition, Portraits of Process: The American Artists’ Hand Archive (AAHA) which, as a continuing project, documents makers’ hands. In the project at Pocantico there were many artists represented with whom the Neuberger has worked. Most striking to me were the hands of Beverly Pepper because her hands were cast when she was quite elderly; the delicate sculpture of her hands was in direct contradiction with the nature of her monumental Cor-Ten steel sculpture. Thanks to our colleagues at Pocantico for a great tour!
Looking ahead, all of us at the Museum hope that you will find time during this holiday season to rest, relax, and enjoy a peaceful and joyful transition into 2024. We’ll pick backstory up again in the new year!
Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director, Neuberger Museum of Art