Venus of the Rags

Sculpture of a nude woman surrounded by a mound of rags — The sculpture is of a nude woman that is over five feet tall. She is surrounded by a large mound of colorful rags of the same height. The width of the mound extends past the woman significantly on both sides. The sculpture is made out of white plaster and is reminiscent of the classical style. The woman is positioned so that she is facing the mound of rags. She stands on a circular base. Part of the base disappears into the rags. The texture of the sculpture is smooth and she has curvy hips and buttocks. Her hair is wavy and pulled back into a bun on the back of her head. Her right arm is bent at the elbow and she holds a circular object in her hand. Her left arm is at her side. She holds some type of cloth that is draped toward the ground and touches the base she stands on. The heel of her left foot is lifted off the pedestal, giving the appearance that she is standing with most of her weight on her right leg.

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Object Details

Artist

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Italian, b. Biella, 1933

Provenance

The artist

Sold through Galerie Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, 20 October 1999

Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest Fund, 1999

Exhibition History

HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Regarding Beauty: A View of the Late Twentieth Century," 7 October 1999-17 January 2000, no. 45, ill. p. 43. Tour: HAUS DER KUNST, Munich, 11 February-30 April.

HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Over, Under, Next: Experiments in Mixed Media, 1913-Present," 18 April-8 September 2013, no cat.

HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. "Masterworks from the Hirshhorn Collection," 9 June 2016-6 August 2017, no cat.

Published References

UNSIGNED. "Regarding Beauty: A View of the Late Twentieth Century," exhibition brochure (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1999), ill.

FEAVER, WILLIAM. "Reawakening Beauty," Art News (October 1999), ill. p. 216.

UNSIGNED. "Different Hues, Views of Beauty," Washington Times (9 October 1999), p. D3.

UNSIGNED. "Museum Acquisitions: Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC," The Art Newspaper 101 (March 2000), p. 30.

UNSIGNED. "Pistoletto, Codice inverso," GIOIA (April 2001), ill.

AQUIN, STEPHANE, et al. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: The Collection (New York: DelMonico Books, 2022), pl. 213, pp. 236-237.

Credit Line

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest Fund, 1999

Date

1967

Accession Number

99.24

Type

Sculpture

Medium

Plaster and fabric

Dimensions

plaster figure: 65 x 22 x 24 1/4 in. (165.1 x 55.9 x 61.6 cm) rags: dimensions variable

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Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection

Data Source

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Metadata Usage

Not determined

Link to Original Record

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/py2237bc786-f829-46e0-8888-0a89810e1c21

Record ID

hmsg_99.24