About this artwork
Between 1967 and 1969, Bontecou created a group of large flower sculptures made of vacuum-formed plastic whose centers trail long tendrils and which resemble gas masks. She envisioned these to be the products of a post-apocalyptic world, commenting that “I was doing a lot of drawings of flowers prior to [the sculptures]. And I thought, ‘this is all we’re going to have left. Make a few plastic flowers in the world and that will be it. Give them a few [gas] masks, let them survive.’”
With Tenth Stone, Bontecou experimented with several subtle colors, but settled on a simple black for the final, published print. The flower’s petals and stem are riveted like metal, merging the botanical and the mechanical to create a disturbing hybrid that reflects, among other things, Bontecou’s fears for the environment.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Lee Bontecou
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Title
- Tenth Stone
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Place
- United States (Artist's nationality)
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Date
- 1968
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Medium
- Lithograph from one stone in metallic silver ink on white wove paper
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Dimensions
- Image: 95.2 × 65.1 cm (37 1/2 × 25 11/16 in.); Sheet: 105 × 71.2 cm (41 3/8 × 28 1/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- U.L.A.E. Collection acquired through a challenge grant of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dittmer; purchased with funds provided by supporters of the Department of Prints and Drawings; Centennial Endowment; Margaret Fisher Endowment Fund
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Reference Number
- 1982.109a
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.
