Triumph of the Egg

Jeremy Anderson, Triumph of the Egg, 1970, assembled, painted and shellacked wood, fiberglass and sand, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak, 1983.92.1
Jeremy Anderson, Triumph of the Egg, 1970, assembled, painted and shellacked wood, fiberglass and sand, 20166 34 in. (50.840.617.1 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak, 1983.92.1

Artwork Details

Title
Triumph of the Egg
Date
1970
Dimensions
20166 34 in. (50.840.617.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak
Mediums Description
assembled, painted and shellacked wood, fiberglass and sand
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — foodstuff — egg
  • Figure — fragment — arm
  • Fantasy
Object Number
1983.92.1

Artwork Description

The title of this piece probably refers to Sherwood Anderson's 1921 "The Triumph of the Egg." In the short story, the narrator tells how the egg spoils his family's hopes for success, first as chicken farmers and later as restaurateurs. The triumph of the egg is the continuous cycle of "the chicken and the egg," which leads the narrator to ponder the meaning of life. Jeremy Anderson (no relation to the author) depicts a human hand coming out of a speckled egg. Keeping the story in mind, we might suspect that the eggshell in this piece imprisons a person and that the hand calls for help or searches for an escape. The sculpture may also be a metaphor for Anderson's birth, since the short story was published the same year the artist was born.

Works by this artist (4 items)

Sandra C. Fernández, La virgen de Quito apareció en Austin, 2011, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Gilberto Cárdenas Latino Collection, 2012.40.2, © 2011, Sandra C. Fernández
La virgen de Quito apareció en Austin
Date2011
screenprint on paper
Not on view
Sandra C. Fernández, Mojándose II (Crossing), 2015, etching, relief, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.34.2, ©2014, Sandra C. Fernández
Mojándose II (Crossing)
Date2015
etching, relief, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper
Not on view
Sandra C. Fernández, Mourning and Dreaming High: con mucha fé, 2014-2018, lithography, thread drawings, milagros, collage, pages of an 18th-century book, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.34.1A-S, ©2014, Sandra C. Fernández
Mourning and Dreaming High: con mucha fé
Date2014-2018
lithography, thread drawings, milagros, collage, pages of an 18th-century book
Not on view
Sandra C. Fernández, Cruzado (Settled In), 2015, etching, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2019.34.3, ©2014, Sandra C. Fernández
Cruzado (Settled In)
Date2015
etching, chine colle, thread drawings, blind embossing on paper
Not on view

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Hurricane Redux
Date2018
linocut assemblage mounted on Masonite panels
Not on view
Sol LeWitt, Color Bands, 2000, linocut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the C.K. Williams Foundation, 2010.65.4, © 2000, The LeWitt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Color Bands
Date2000
linocut on paper
Not on view