Dear Joan of Art, When I was visiting the Renwick Gallery, I stopped at the museum shop and was struck by the beautiful gates that are at the entrance. Who did them and can you tell me something about them?
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Dear Joan of Art, When I was visiting the Renwick Gallery, I stopped at the museum shop and was struck by the beautiful gates that are at the entrance. Who did them and can you tell me something about them?
Dear Visitor,
You're speaking about Albert Paley's Portal Gates, a feast for the eyes.
In June 1972 five American metalsmiths were invited to submit drawings for a commission to design and fabricate a pair of symmetrical wrought iron and brass gates to adorn the entrance to the Renwick Gallery's museum shop. The commission was awarded to Albert Paley, a young goldsmith from Rochester, New York, who had already gained renown for one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry fabricated in gold, silver, and copper. The Renwick commission marked a turning point in Paley's career, and his Portal Gates has been hailed as one of the masterworks of contemporary ironsmithing.
I hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely, Joan of Art
Source: National Museum of American Art (Washington, D.C. and Boston, New York, Toronto, and London: National Museum of American Art with Bulfinch Press, Little Brown and Company, 1995).
Pictured: Albert Paley, born 1944, Portal Gates, 1974, forged steel, brass, copper, and bronze, 90 3/4 x 72 x 4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Commissioned for the Renwick Gallery.