''Argo'' is a public artwork by
Russian-American artist
Alexander Liberman located on the south lawn of the
Milwaukee Art Museum, which is in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, U.S.. The artwork was made in 1974 from steel cylinders painted with a reflective white epoxy finish. It measures high by wide.
Description
Alex Liberman's impressive steel sculpture was originally located in an outdoor exhibition in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...
. Mrs. Harry Lynde (Peg) Bradley purchased the sculpture because she determined it would complement the architecture of the newly enlarged
Milwaukee Art Center building, which had been largely financed by the
Bradley funds. Argo became the first sculpture on the grounds of the museums new wing. With its form of white circles and cylinders, the sculpture not only enhances the building, but, when viewed from the west, appears to float on the surface of the water. This effect is exactly as the artist intended, as implied by the title,
Argo
In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of ...
-the heroic adventure ship of the ancient Greeks.
Argo, with its reflective white epoxy paint finish and correct sitting, is a fine example of the Artist's 1970's style of monumental geometric sculpture. During this period the artist was interested in the interplay between positive and negative spaces. Examples of other Liberman styles and sculptures can be seen at the Bradley Sculpture Garden.
History
Initially during the summer of 1974, the sculpture was located in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...
. Mounted a large contemporary outdoor exhibition entitled "Monumenta". Alexander Liberman's Argo, sited on the edge of the water, received favorable notice and reviews.
Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley purchased the sculpture because she determined it would complement the architecture of the newly enlarged Milwaukee Art Center building, which had been largely financed by the Bradley funds.
Further reading
*Buck, Diane M. and Virginia A. Palmer (1995). ''Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook'', The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison.
References
{{MilwaukeePublicArt
1974 sculptures
Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee
Sculptures by Alexander Liberman
Steel sculptures in Wisconsin