The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 10, 2026

A dark bronze sculpture depicts two draped women supporting a large spherical sundial. One figure faces left while the other shows her back, their clinging garments flowing toward the base. The rectangular pedestal is inscribed "NIGHT PASSING THE EARTH TO DAY." In the background, a dark lagoon sits before a classical colonnaded building, framed by bright white trees under a black sky.

Untitled (View of Jirouch Sculpture, Lagoon, and Cleveland Museum of Art)

c. late 1980s-early 1990s

Robert Waltz

(American, 1922–2015)
gelatin silver print
Image: 58.7 x 41.5 cm (23 1/8 x 16 5/16 in.); Paper: 61.2 x 42.8 cm (24 1/8 x 16 7/8 in.)
Gift of the Estate of Robert Waltz 2017.27
Location: Not on view

Description

This is a highly personal interpretation of Frank Jirouch’s 1928 sculpture Night Passing Earth to Day dominating the south end of the lagoon south of the museum. Waltz used infrared film, which turned all the light areas bright white, yielding a composition of extreme contrasts. Both the sculptor and Waltz were Cleveland artists who exhibited in the museum’s May Show, although decades apart.
  • {{cite web|title=Untitled (View of Jirouch Sculpture, Lagoon, and Cleveland Museum of Art)|url=false|author=Robert Waltz|year=c. late 1980s-early 1990s|access-date=10 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2017.27