Untitled

Robert Irwin, Untitled, 1980, mixed media: fiberboard, paper, plastic and fabric, 22 3422 1810 in. (57.856.225.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1980.49.6

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled
Artist
Date
1980
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
22 3422 1810 in. (57.856.225.4 cm)
Credit Line
Transfer from the General Services Administration
Mediums Description
mixed media: fiberboard, paper, plastic and fabric
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract — geometric
  • Architecture Interior — civic — post office
Object Number
1980.49.6

Artwork Description

Robert Irwin believes that the viewer’s perceptions, rather than material objects, define a place. In 1983, for a General Services Administration commission at the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., Irwin hung forty-eight panels of translucent fabric in rows from the atrium ceiling. Irwin intended the fabric to alter the way the viewer looked at the whole space. He hoped that because the panels appeared and disappeared, depending on the angle of sunlight coming through the skylight, the viewer’s eye would constantly move between the architecture and the fabric, increasing her awareness of the original architectural details of the atrium.

Works by this artist (4 items)

Donald Judd, Table Object, 1967, aluminum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1971.84.94
Table Object
Date1967
aluminum
On view
Donald Judd, Table Object, 1967, folded stainless steel, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1976.108.66
Table Object
Date1967
folded stainless steel
On view
Donald Judd, Untitled, 1981, fabricated 1982, wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James F. Dicke Family, 2014.13.2
Untitled
Date1981, fabricated 1982
wood
Not on view
Donald Judd, Untitled, from the Portfolio The New York Collection for Stockholm, 1973, color lithograph and screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1976.108.121, © 1973, Donald Judd
Untitled, from the Portfolio The New York Collection for…
Date1973
color lithograph and screenprint on paper
Not on view

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Bently
Dateca. 1975
gelatin silver print
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Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.9
Untitled
Dateca. 1945-1950
gelatin silver print
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Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.7
Untitled
Dateca. 1945-1950
gelatin silver print
Not on view