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Robert M. Wilson

Stalin Chairs, 1977

Description

Maker

  • Robert M. Wilson, b. 1941, American

Culture

American

Title

Stalin Chairs

Year

1977

Medium

Lead over fiberglass

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • lead,
  • fiberglass

Dimensions

85.1 x 156.2 x 154.9 cm (33 x 61 x 61 inches) each

Type

  • Sculpture

Credit

The Albert Pilavin Memorial Collection of 20th Century American Art

Object Number

83.151.1

Projects & Publications

Publications

Furniture, Furnishings

Subject and Object

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Multi-Part Art

July 11, 2008 - March 29, 2009

Wilson is an acclaimed performer, visual artist, writer, and stage director known for his theatrical innovations and use of different mediums. Stalin Chairs consists of fiberglass armatures covered with sheets of lead. The work was inspired by the chair props used in Wilson’s 1973 opera The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin, which lasted for twelve hours and dealt with a transformative moment in Stalin’s life—the death of his first wife. The crucial moment of the opera was the scene in which two Stalins, representing his persona both before and after his wife’s death, appear seated in the chairs. This expressive work possesses an anthropomorphic character captured in the drapes and creases of the lead surface, which is an extremely soft material to model, and holds a monumental presence through the chairs’ size.

Twentieth-Century Sculpture from the Collection

June 7 - August 18, 1996

From the Reserve II

June 24 - August 27, 1994

The Moderns

August 6, 1993 - March 13, 1994

Related

Robert M. Wilson

Stalin Chairs, 1977

More objects +

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Stalin Chairs with the accession number of 83.151.1. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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