The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 31, 2026

Felt Cavity for Wishbones III

1994
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

In 1990, Simpson was the first African American woman to be given a one-person exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Description

Wishbones is an examination of and a meditation on the act of wishing. The set includes a wooden box filled with three contrasting wishbones, or “wishes,” made from bronze, ceramic, and rubber. The bronze wishbone is unbreakably rigid, and the rubber flexible, while the ceramic wishbone was designed expressly for its fragility. Drawing on the metaphorical meanings of materials, Lorna Simpson deepens her exploration of relationships between word, concept, and images.
  • 1994
    Artist, to Norton family
    1994
    Norton Family, gifted to Ms. Toby Lewis
    1994–2022
    Ms.Toby Lewis [1934–2022], Lyndhurst, OH, to the Estate of Toby Lewis
    2022–2024?
    Estate of Toby Lewis, to Adam Joseph Lewis, Ivy Beth Lewis, and Mark C. Lewis
    2022?–2024
    Adam Joseph Lewis, Ivy Beth Lewis, and Mark C. Lewis, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2024–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Felt Cavity for Wishbones III|url=false|author=Lorna Simpson|year=1994|access-date=31 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.93.d