The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2025

A sculpture of two spheres, the larger one white and the smaller one black, above two white, teardrop-shaped objects. The points of the teardrop-shaped objects are facing each other, one atop the other. The teardrop-shaped object at the bottom sits atop a white cylinder.

White and Steel Polars

1945
(American, 1907–1981)
America
painted wood, steel, iron, and Plexiglas
Overall: 271.8 x 40.6 x 40.6 cm (107 x 16 x 16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2005.144
© Estate of Theodore Roszak / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Location: 226B American Modern

Did You Know?

During the Second World War, Roszak worked for a defense contractor, helping to design aircraft.

Description

In 1929 Roszak traveled to Prague and met artists interested in making work from industrial materials such as metal and plastic. Inspired by them, he incorporated this approach into his own sculpture for the next few decades.
  • 1978-1979
    (Zabriskie Gallery, New York, NY, sold to Atlantic Richfield Company, Los Angeles)
    1978-1979
    Atlantic Richfield Company, Los Angeles, CA
    1979
    Atlantic Richfield Company, Los Angeles, CA, transfer to ARCO International Gas & Oil, Plano, TX
    1979-2000
    ARCO International Gas & Oil, Plano, TX to (Hirschl & Adler, New York, NY and Robert Henry Adams Fine Art, Chicago, IL)
    2000-2005
    (Hirschl & Adler, New York, NY and Robert Henry Adams Fine Art, Chicago, IL ) sold to Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    2005-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Urdang, Beth. Theodore Roszak: Constructions, 1932-1945. Exhibition pamphlet. New York: Zabriskie Gallery, 1978. Reproduced: p. 7
    Zabriskie Gallery advertisement, Art in America 66 (November-December 1978). Mentioned: p. 51
    Kramer, Hilton. "Art: Roszak Evokes Spirit of Bauhaus," New York Times (December 1,1978). Mentioned: p. C17
    Fichner-Rathus, Lois. Theodore Roszak: Drawings for Constructions, 1931-1945; and Preparatory Sketches, Models and Castings for the MIT Bell Tower, 1955. Mentioned: p. 2
    Marter, Joan. "Theodore Roszak’s Early Constructions: The Machine as Creator of Fantastic and Ideal Forms," Arts Magazine 54 (November 1979). Mentioned: p. 110
    Marter, Joan. "Constructivism in America: The 1930s." Arts Magazine 56 (June 1982). Reproduced: p. 79
    Pachner, Joan. "Theodore Roszak and David Smith: A Question of Balance," Arts Magazine 58 (February 1984). Mentioned: p. 103
    Dreishpoon,Douglas. Theodore Roszak: Constructivist Works, 1931-1947: Paintings, Constructions, Drawings, Photograms. Exhibition catalog. New York: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, 1992. Reproduced: p. 11
    Dreishpoon, Douglas. Theodore J. Roszak (1907-1981): Painting and Sculpture. Ph.D. dissertation, City University of New York, 1993. Reproduced: fig. 44
    Carberry,Valerie. Selections from the Current Inventory: Paintings, Sculpture, Works on Paper vol. VII. Chicago: Robert Henry Adams Fine Art, Spring 2001). Mentioned: p. 16-17
    Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned: p. 120; Reproduced: p. 69
    Cole, Mark. "Bi-polar Order" Cleveland Art 46 (March 2006). Mentioned: p. 8-9; Reproduced: p. 8, cover
    Cole, Mark, "Bi-polar Order", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 46 no. 03, March 2006 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Annual Report (2005-2006). Mentioned: p. 4, 30
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. New York: Scala Art Publishers, 2014. Mentioned: p. 60
  • The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
    Theodore Roszak Constructions, 1932-1945. Zabriskie Gallery, New York (October 31–December 2, 1978).
  • {{cite web|title=White and Steel Polars|url=false|author=Theodore Roszak|year=1945|access-date=24 April 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.144