Artist George Rickey made his first mobile mobiles from metal wire and glass in the early 1940s. Influenced by Naum Gabo's moving sculptures, he made stainless steel constructions that swayed in the wind from the 1950s, which were constructed from rectangular surfaces and linear elements. The simple looking but very graceful Three Columns has become the culmination of this research. The movements of the three columns resemble the movements of the human body, hence the connection with the Rotterdamse Schouwburg, where the work was installed in 1989. Rickey considered dance the oldest kinetic tradition and said his works could be considered choreographies. This is George Rickey's second work in Rotterdam. In 1986, he was approached by his longtime friend, art connoisseur and collector Professor Piet Sanders, to discuss the design of the three square steel frames above the entrance to the new building for the Rotterdamse Schouwburg, designed by architect Wim Quist. It proved to be a task that took Rickey approximately three years to solve. Upon its completion, he wrote: "The columns I have now made for Rotterdam are the result of earlier, crudely executed designs and sometimes frustrating trials. As a finished product, they appear simple, and they are, but they only became so after three years of experimenting, making discoveries, and making improvements." The Van Ommeren company (now Vopak) donated the artwork to the Municipality of Rotterdam on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. In 1989, the Three Columns incorporated into the cubes. Fifty years earlier, Van Ommeren donated another work of art to the municipality, namely the Hofplein fountain by Cor van Kralingen. On May 19, 2015, one of the three moving sculptures was severely damaged during a storm, and the fire department spent several hours safely removing a loose section. The artwork was therefore completely removed. The damage prompted a thorough restoration. After nearly five years of absence, the Three Columns reinstalled on 11 and 12 March 2020 in the three steel cubes on the facade. The moving columns dance again. For more information: Sculpture International Rotterdam.
George Rickey (South Bend, Indiana USA, 1907 - Saint Paul, Minnesota USA, 2002) was an American sculptor known for his kinetic sculptures. He studied in England and Paris and traveled through Europe. Back in the United States in the XNUMXs, he began to shift his focus from painting to sculpting. He combined his love for technology with cubism and with mobile forms such as van Calder. The metal parts of his images moved with the slightest movement of the wind. He is considered an important representative of neo-constructivism.
Artist George Rickey made his first mobile mobiles from metal wire and glass in the early 1940s. Influenced by Naum Gabo's moving sculptures, he made stainless steel constructions that swayed in the wind from the 1950s, which were constructed from rectangular surfaces and linear elements. The simple looking but very graceful Three Columns has become the culmination of this research. The movements of the three columns resemble the movements of the human body, hence the connection with the Rotterdamse Schouwburg, where the work was installed in 1989. Rickey considered dance the oldest kinetic tradition and said his works could be considered choreographies. This is George Rickey's second work in Rotterdam. In 1986, he was approached by his longtime friend, art connoisseur and collector Professor Piet Sanders, to discuss the design of the three square steel frames above the entrance to the new building for the Rotterdamse Schouwburg, designed by architect Wim Quist. It proved to be a task that took Rickey approximately three years to solve. Upon its completion, he wrote: "The columns I have now made for Rotterdam are the result of earlier, crudely executed designs and sometimes frustrating trials. As a finished product, they appear simple, and they are, but they only became so after three years of experimenting, making discoveries, and making improvements." The Van Ommeren company (now Vopak) donated the artwork to the Municipality of Rotterdam on the occasion of its 150th anniversary. In 1989, the Three Columns incorporated into the cubes. Fifty years earlier, Van Ommeren donated another work of art to the municipality, namely the Hofplein fountain by Cor van Kralingen. On May 19, 2015, one of the three moving sculptures was severely damaged during a storm, and the fire department spent several hours safely removing a loose section. The artwork was therefore completely removed. The damage prompted a thorough restoration. After nearly five years of absence, the Three Columns reinstalled on 11 and 12 March 2020 in the three steel cubes on the facade. The moving columns dance again. For more information: Sculpture International Rotterdam.
George Rickey (South Bend, Indiana USA, 1907 - Saint Paul, Minnesota USA, 2002) was an American sculptor known for his kinetic sculptures. He studied in England and Paris and traveled through Europe. Back in the United States in the XNUMXs, he began to shift his focus from painting to sculpting. He combined his love for technology with cubism and with mobile forms such as van Calder. The metal parts of his images moved with the slightest movement of the wind. He is considered an important representative of neo-constructivism.
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