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Label Text Arneson was a major figure of the California-based Funk Art movement, and his innovative work in ceramics helped move that media to the forefront of contemporary art. Humerous portraiture and self-portraiture are common in his work, as seen in this monumental ceramic floor sculpture. The central figure references not only the artist, who was nearing the end of his battle with cancer, but Leonardo da Vinci's iconic Vitruvian Man drawing. Source: DMAC NEWS Sep Oct Nov Dec 2021
Exhibition History"Robert Arneson," Fendrick Gallery, Washington DC, January 15 - February 9, 1980

"Early and Late," Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, June 16 - August 15, 1980

"Robert Arneson," Frumkin & Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL, September 18 - October 31, 1980

"Pacific Currents/Ceramics 1982," San Jose Museum of Art, CA, March 25 - April 25, 1982, no. 1, illustrated

"Robert Arneson: Self-Reflections," San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, February 14 - May 13, 1997
Published ReferencesFoley, Suzanne, and Sherri Warner. "Pacific Currents/Ceramics" 1982. San Jose: San Jose Museum of Art, 1982, illus. p. 10.

Fineberg, Jonathan, Gary Garrels, and Janet Bishop. "Robert Arneson: Self-Reflections. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art," 1997, illus. p. 34.

Fineberg, Jonathan. "A Troublesome Subject: The Art of Robert Arneson." Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013, illus. p. 143.
DimensionsOverall: 114 in. (289.6 cm)
Accession Number 2021.5.a-.ww
Classificationssculpture
CopyrightCopyright Estate of Robert Arneson /Licensed by Artists Right Society (ARS), New York, NY
ProvenanceRobert Arneson Estate, Benicia, CA; (George Adams Gallery, New York); Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 2021]

Images (2)

Courtesy of George Adams Gallery
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Impression of the Artist as an Incorporeal Witness to the Center of the Universe
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Carston Arneson
1978
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Carston Arneson
1985
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Carston Arneson
1986
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Carston Arneson
1982
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Carston Arneson
1968
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Carston Arneson
1978
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Carston Arneson
1986
Photo Credit: Richard Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Carston Arneson
1975
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Teresita Fernández
2022