The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Abstract bronze sculpture with three geometric rectangular prisms connected at one point. They have a streaky brown colored surface with occasional splotches of gold. A central rectangular prism tilts up and to the left. The short end is attached to two smaller rectangular prisms, splayed in different directions, one bracing it against the floor, the other jutting out to the right.

Untitled

1989

Joel Shapiro

(American, 1941–2025)
America
bronze
Overall: 177.8 x 203.2 x 76.2 cm (70 x 80 x 30 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1989.57
© Joel Shapiro / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: Not on view

Description

Joel Shapiro works with a concentrated, sleek geometric vocabulary that can be seen as both figurative and abstract. In this composition he attached two projecting elements to a larger rectangular form, suggesting a human torso with extended legs. From one angle, the sculpture resembles a figure kicking its foot up or leaning forward in an energetic sprint; another view implies a body in a static moment of balance in midair, like a ballet dancer. Shapiro first created this composition in wood, assembling the dynamic form from pieces of timber that were cut and joined together. The sculpture was then cast in bronze. The texture and grain of the original wood are visible on the surface of the metal
  • E. H. T. “The Year in Review: Selections 1989.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 2 (February 1990): 38–78. Reproduced: p. 37, cover, 64; Mentioned: p. 68, no. 55 www.jstor.org
  • MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 129, p. 123, color repr. p. 116.
    The Year in Review for 1989. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-April 15, 1990).
    CMA, 1990: "Year in Review 1989," CMA Bulletin 77 (Feb., 1990), p. 68, cat. no. 55, repr. cover and p. 64
  • {{cite web|title=Untitled|url=false|author=Joel Shapiro|year=1989|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.57