Cut, Flamed, Spalted

Dan Webb, Cut, Flamed, Spalted, 2013, maple, 18 × 37 × 33 in. (45.7 × 94.0 × 83.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Decorative Arts and Crafts Endowment, the Richard T. Evans Fund, and the Renwick Acquisitions Fund, 2015.10, © 2013, Dan Webb

Artwork Details

Title
Cut, Flamed, Spalted
Artist
Date
2013
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
18 × 37 × 33 in. (45.7 × 94.0 × 83.8 cm)
Copyright
© 2013, Dan Webb
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Decorative Arts and Crafts Endowment, the Richard T. Evans Fund, and the Renwick Acquisitions Fund
Mediums Description
maple
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure — fragment — arm
Object Number
2015.10

Artwork Description

Dan Webb consciously integrates medium and process into his emotional narrative. Refined and unfinished textures stress the maker's hand. Spalting, a discoloration in the wood caused by fungus, can be seen in jagged lines across the bicep, while flaming, another grain distortion, shimmers like veins through the tender wrist. These conditions add depth and beauty to the piece, revealing the tree's history while drawing a parallel to the scars of a life lived.

Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019

Works by this artist (1036 items)

William H. Johnson, Young Pastry Cook, ca. 1928-1930, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.693
Young Pastry Cook
Dateca. 1928-1930
oil on canvas
On view
William H. Johnson, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1935-1938, oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.814
Portrait of a Man
Dateca. 1935-1938
oil on burlap
On view
William H. Johnson, Breakdown with Flat Tire, ca. 1940-1941, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.587
Breakdown with Flat Tire
Dateca. 1940-1941
oil on plywood
On view
William H. Johnson, For India and China, ca. 1944-1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.662
For India and China
Dateca. 1944-1945
oil on paperboard
On view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.11 - SAAM-2016.11_6 - 124929
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
November 13, 2015March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.