(Study for Order/​Disorder/​Ascension/​Descension)

Al Held, (Study for Order/Disorder/Ascension/Descension), 1975, pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1977.47.49
Al Held, (Study for Order/Disorder/Ascension/Descension), 1975, pencil on paper, sheet: 20 1⁄2 x 24 3⁄4 in. (52.1 x 62.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1977.47.49

Artwork Details

Title
(Study for Order/​Disorder/​Ascension/​Descension)
Artist
Date
1975
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 20 1⁄2 x 24 3⁄4 in. (52.1 x 62.9 cm)
Credit Line
Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program
Mediums
Mediums Description
pencil on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1977.47.49
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1977.47.49

Artwork Description

This drawing is a study for the enormous two-part mural commissioned for the Social Security building lobby in Philadelphia. Each of the final parts of the mural measures thirteen feet high and ninety feet wide, and special canvas had to be ordered from weavers in Belgium to accommodate this scale. The artist worked out arrangements of solid and broken lines that suggest volume and perspective. He then transferred the composition to a section of the canvas and added to the sequence of visual components until the entire mural was completed.

Abstract Drawings, 2012

Works by this artist (7 items)

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Albert Bierstadt, Gates of the Yosemite, ca. 1882, oil on paper mounted on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Marvin J. and Shirley F. Sonosky in memory of Harryette Cohn, 2006.1.1
Gates of the Yosemite
Artist
Dateca. 1882
oil on paper mounted on canvas
On view
Albert Bierstadt, Alaskan Coast Range, ca. 1889, oil on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Orrin Wickersham June, 1967.136.7
Alaskan Coast Range
Artist
Dateca. 1889
oil on paper mounted on paperboard
On view
Albert Bierstadt, Sunrise in the Sierras, ca. 1872, oil on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Orrin Wickersham June, 1967.136.8
Sunrise in the Sierras
Artist
Dateca. 1872
oil on paper mounted on paperboard
On view
Albert Bierstadt, Among the Sierra Nevada, California, 1868, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Helen Huntington Hull, granddaughter of William Brown Dinsmore, who acquired the painting in 1873 for "The Locusts," the family estate in Dutchess County, New York, 1977.107.1
Among the Sierra Nevada, California
Artist
Date1868
oil on canvas
On view

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George Catlin, Wa-sáw-me-saw, Roaring Thunder, Youngest Son of Black Hawk, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.4
Wa-sáw-me-saw, Roaring Thunder, Youngest Son of Black Hawk
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Date1832
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