Object Details
Artist
Jeremy Anderson, born Palo Alto, CA 1921-died Mill Valley, CA 1982
Luce Center Label
The title of this piece probably refers to Sherwood Anderson's 1921 "The Triumph of the Egg." In the short story, the narrator tells how the egg spoils his family's hopes for success, first as chicken farmers and later as restaurateurs. The triumph of the egg is the continuous cycle of "the chicken and the egg," which leads the narrator to ponder the meaning of life. Jeremy Anderson (no relation to the author) depicts a human hand coming out of a speckled egg. Keeping the story in mind, we might suspect that the eggshell in this piece imprisons a person and that the hand calls for help or searches for an escape. The sculpture may also be a metaphor for Anderson's birth, since the short story was published the same year the artist was born.
Luce Object Quote
". . . Taking the world apart is easy, it is getting it back together in an acceptable form that is difficult." Jeremy Anderson, quoted in Artweek, March 22, 1975
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak
Date
1970
Object number
1983.92.1
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Sculpture
Medium
assembled, painted and shellacked wood, fiberglass and sand
Dimensions
20 x 16 x 6 3/4 in. (50.8 x 40.6 x 17.1 cm.)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
On View
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 49B
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Fantasy
Figure\fragment\arm
Object\foodstuff\egg
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_1983.92.1