Linear Construction No. 4

1962

Naum Gabo American, 1890-1977

On View

Modern, Level 2, North Wing

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About the Artwork

Naum Gabo and his brother, Antoine Pevsner, active supporters of the Russian Revolution, dreamed that through industrialization a new social order would emerge and that Russia would call upon its creative elite to guide it into the future. They drafted a document, the Realist Manifesto (1920), in which the principal tenets of constructivism were spelled out. As it happened, their future lay elsewhere. One brother emigrated to Paris, the other to England and ultimately the United States. Consistent with a rejection of solid form that dates back to the Realist Manifesto, Gabo defines the boundaries of his skeletal construction with two intersecting bronze ribbons that seem to embrace the maximum amount of space with the minimum amount of mass. Initially the artist had planned to attach a motor to its base to make the sculpture rotate, which would have permitted viewing from all angles.

Title Linear Construction No. 4

Artwork Date 1962

Artist Naum Gabo

Life Dates 1890-1977

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Bronze, stainless steel

Dimensions Overall (on pedestal): 82 1/2 × 32 × 31 7/8 inches (209.6 × 81.3 × 81 cm) Overall (pedestal): 37 3/8 × 32 × 31 7/8 inches (94.9 × 81.3 × 81 cm) Including base (recessed into pedestal): 50 1/2 × 28 × 28 inches (128.3 × 71.1 × 71.1 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Contemporary Art after 1950

Credit Gift of W. Hawkins Ferry

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 72.437

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

Miriam Gabo, wife of the artist. 1972-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Naum Gabo. Exh. cat., Stedelijk Museum. Amsterdam, 1965, no. 23.

Naum Gabo. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1966, p. 10, no. 28 (pl. 11).

Naum Gabo. Exh. cat., Albright-Knox Gallery. Buffalo, 1968, no. 17.

Arkus, L.A. "Expressing the Spirit of the Times: 1970 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Opening October 30." Carnegie Magazine 44, 8 (1970): pp. 305-308 (ill.).

1970 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Art. Exh. cat., Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art. Pittsburgh, 1970, p. 35, no. 66.

de la Motte, Mafred and D. Sterenberg. Naum Gabo. Hannover, 1971, p. 67 (ill.).

Bulletin of the DIA 52, 1 (1973): p. 37.

Art in Space: Some Turning Points. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1973 (fig. 12).

Hillberry, Susanne. "Naum Gabo: A Constructivist Sculptor." Bulletin of the DIA 54, 4 (1976): pp. 175-183 (ill.).

Sarff, Laura and Jan Harem. Symmography: Linear Thread Design. Worcester, MA, 1979, p. 72 (ill.).

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