Tinguely and his Drawing Machine
Artist
Robert Doisneau
(French, 1912–1994)
Date1959
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensions38.7 x 32.5 cm (image), 40.4 x 55.8 cm (sheet)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineWilliam Grimm Fund
Object number2011.405.7
Label TextThe Swiss painter, sculptor, and experimental artist Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) is best remembered for his kinetic machines in the Dada tradition. Working in Paris during the 1950s he created “metamechanics,” meant to caricature the mindless overproduction of modern industrial society.
Tinguely’s best-known sculpture, Homage to New York was designed to self-destruct during a one-time-only performance in the Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The event was held March 17, 1960. Once ignited, sparks began to fly. Part of the machine broke away, crashed into an NBC crew, and then the machine needed to be doused with water by a nearby fireman. Tinguely’s failure became a success by demonstrating that not all art can be possessed.
ProvenanceG.W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York, NYOn View
Not on view
Robert Doisneau
1951, printed 1984
