John Chamberlain
Sweet William1962

On view:

Broad Contemporary Art Museum, floor 3

Artist or Maker: John Chamberlain
United States, Indiana, Rochester, 1927-2011
Title: Sweet William
Place Made: United States
Date Made: 1962
Medium: Welded and painted metal on a hardwood base
Dimensions: 61 × 74 × 43 in. (154.94 × 187.96 × 109.22 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Abe Adler in memory of Mrs. Esther Steif Rosen through the Contemporary Art Council
Accession Number: M.63.58
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: John Chamberlain’s sculptures display his ability to manipulate detritus in the same way other artists use traditional materials such as oil paint or marble. Building on the assemblage tradition, he transformed used car parts and scrap metal into expressive and poetic portraits (as he classified them) that echo the emotional and dynamic power of Abstract Expressionism. Despite their unorthodox mediums, Chamberlain’s works adhere to traditional sculptural principles of composition, monumentality, implied motion, light, and shadow.

Wall label, 2021.
Selected Bibliography: Barron, Stephanie and Lauren Bergman. Ken Price Sculpture: a Retrospective. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich: DelMonico, 2012.
Waldman, Diane. John Chamberlain: A Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1971.
Seldis, Henry J. "West Coast Milestone." Art in America 53, no.2 (1965): 92-109.