© Antoine Pevsner / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Currently not on view
Construction in the Third and Fourth Dimension,
1961–62
Antoine Pevsner, French, 1886–1962
y1969-130
Antoine Pevsner, along with his brother Nuam Gabo, helped found the Constructivist movement in Russia, beginning with a 1920 manifesto that art should be active in four dimensions, including time. In this sculpture, Pevsner exploited the contortion of flat metal planes, theoretically capable of indefinite projections. The striations on the surface also suggest the possibility of the infinite.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Construction in the Third and Fourth Dimension
Dates
1961–62
Maker
Medium
Cast bronze
Dimensions
ca. 308 x 218.4 x 147.3 cm. (121 1/4 x 86 x 58 in.)
Credit Line
The John B. Putnam Jr. Memorial Collection, Princeton University
Object Number
y1969-130
Signatures
Signed with edition number on outside left corner of right wing (with viewer looking at north face of sculpture): PEVSNER [name underlined] 3/3
Inscription
On black granite paving slab (separate from base pedestal), front side (facing viewer entering plaza from the north): ANTOINE PEVSNER/ CONSTRUCTION IN THE/ THIRD AND FOURTH DIMENSION/ IN MEMORY OF/ NIELS BOHR
On black granite slab, left side: ELUCIDATOR OF/ THE STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM/ THE STRUCTURE OF THE NUCLEUS
On black granite slab, right side: AUTHOR OF THE/ PRINCIPLE OF COMPLEMENTARITY/ CONTRARIA SUNT/ COMPLEMENTA
On black granite slab, back side: THE GOAL TO BE PUT ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE/ IS AN OPEN WORLD/ WHERE EACH NATION CAN ASSERT ITSELF/ SOLELY BY THE EXTENT TO WHICH IT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMON CULTURE/ AND HELP OTHERS/ WITH EXPERIENCE AND RESOURCES/ NIELS BOHR
Marks/Labels/Seals
Inscribed in block lettters near bottom of wing opposite to signed wing: SUSSE FONDEUR. PARIS
Culture
Type
Materials
Techniques
Subject
- Patrick Joseph Kelleher, Living with Modern Sculpture: the John B. Putnam, Jr., Memorial Collection, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 1982)., cat. no. 3; p. 44-47
- Jane McCarthy and Laurily K. Epstein, A guide to the sculpture parks and gardens of America, (New York, NY: Michael Kesend Pub., 1996).
- Karin Dienst, ed., Sculpture of Princeton University: including works from the John B. Putnam Jr. Memorial Collection, (Princeton, NJ: Published by the Office of Communications, in association with the Princeton University Art Museum, 2004)., p. 36–37 (illus.)
