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Wendell Castle A Catalogue Raisonné 1958–2012

Wendell Castle A Catalogue Raisonné 1958–2012

Emily Evans EErdmans

Essays by

GlEnn AdAmson JAnE Adlin dAvE BArry

thE Artist Book foundAtion

nEw york london honG konG

11

For Wendell Castle’s Raisonné

dAvE BArry

When my friend Wendell Castle asked me, over dinner one night in Miami, if I would be willing to

contribute to his raisonné, I did not hesitate for a moment.

“What’s a raisonné?” I asked.

He explained that it was a critical essay that would appear in a catalogue of his works of art. This

led me to ask Wendell a follow-up question, specifically, how much had he had to drink? Because if

there’s one topic I seriously don’t know anything about, it’s art.

My formal art studies ended in fourth grade, when I was a student at Wampus Elementary School

in Armonk, New York. Every week the art teacher, Mrs. Rockefeller, would come around to our class-

room with a rolling cart full of art supplies. She would distribute these supplies to us students, and we

would spend about an hour attempting to convert them into art. I always failed. I was terrible at draw-

ing. I always drew the same thing, week after week, year after year: a house with two windows, a door,

a chimney with smoke coming out, and a sun overhead. Because I was incapable of showing propor-

tion (if that’s the term I’m looking for), the sun appeared to be about eight feet away from the house,

in addition to which it was shooting out sun rays (represented by straight lines) so that any human

who actually lived in this hellish world I was creating would have died instantly from the radiation.

Fortunately this did not happen, because I could not draw humans. Houses and suns, that was my

entire repertoire.

My point is that I have no artistic talent, unlike Wendell Castle, who as you may recall is the topic

of this raisonné. Not only does Wendell make beautiful art, but his art is also functional furniture. This

impresses me deeply, because another thing I cannot do, in addition to draw, is make things. After grad-

uating from Wampus Elementary School, I went on to Harold C. Crittenden Junior High, where I

took wood shop, and I was no better at that than I had been at art. This is the truth: I spent all of sev-

enth grade making a single project, which was a cutting board for my mom. And when I say “a cutting

board,” what I mean is, “a board.” It was really just a short length of lumber. There was no way to dis-

tinguish it from any other piece of lumber, except that I gave it to my mom to cut things on. Yet mak-

ing it took me an entire year.

So when I look at the amazingly fanciful and swoopy works of furniture art that Wendell pro-

duces, I am in awe. I wonder how he makes them; I wonder how he even thinks of them. He’s a real

treasure, Wendell is, and I am deeply honored that he asked me that night to contribute to his raisonné.

Although I suspect he regretted it, once he sobered up.

Dave Barry

Miami, Florida

February 2012

37

“all things noble are as diffiCult as they are rare,” said the Dutch seventeenth-century philosopher

and harbinger of enlightened modernity, Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677). It is a particularly pertinent

idea when looking at the lengthy career of contemporary designer and innovator Wendell Castle, one

of America’s most influential makers of sculptural furniture. From the seminal Stool Sculpture (cat. I.xx)

of 1959 to his dynamic rocking chairs of 2010, Castle has evolved a distinctive personal style, stretching

the limits of his materials and imposing a new formal language on furniture. Always recognizable in its

function, Castle’s work is best described as abstract and organic sculpture, coming with a floor power,¹ an

undeniable physical presence equal to that of any of the twentieth century’s most important artwork.

Over the past six decades, Castle has created a body of work reflecting his personal view that the

worlds of art, craft, and design are all aspects of a single process.² It is a process of conceptualizing,

drawing, forming, and indeed making furniture that defies previously imposed art historical categori-

zations but that keeps them all in balance.

During a recent conversation with Wendell Castle at his Scottsville, New York studio, he reflected

on where he sees himself as an artist now and his vision for the future.³ With a consistency and focus

spanning nearly 60 years, and a legacy well known to curators and collectors, I couldn’t help but ask

what still brings him to the studio every day. To that, Castle eagerly responded that as soon as he fin-

ishes breakfast he wants to be in his studio. “When I get there, I’m going to have fun. It’s not going to

be a boring day. If I’m carving, I might only carve for a half hour, and then take a break and draw for a

little while. And then maybe model for a little while, and maybe I’ll glue some things for a while. Then

maybe I’ll go back and carve.”

Looking around the studio as he spoke, I saw ambitious new work in progress—complex volumes

being joined, a staircase being resolved—and had to note that this idyllic, and seemingly simple

approach to his work was in fact, one of the keys to his longevity as a creator. I was curious to know

how some projects, past or present, were more challenging than others and what propelled him into

new design territory. He responded by saying that in the past, it was his commissioned work that

often fell into the category of being most challenging, especially requests to assemble an entire room.

However, even with these commissions, it could be that he found two or three of the pieces really

interesting but another in the ensemble, a bookshelf, for example, not.

His favorite furniture form, the chair, is different. It is a singular form, with inherent challenges,

that for Castle, will never grow familiar. As he put it, “Since you sit in a chair, it immediately

becomes an intimate object, one that you constantly test by sitting and thus have a relationship with.

You don’t ever test a table by putting a cup of coffee on it while making it.” Most important for Cas-

tle, a chair offers more sculptural opportunities. His seats often resemble voluptuous contemporary

torsos or evoke classical Greek statues. Castle has produced a myriad of chairs during his career—arm-

Wendell Castle: Now

JAnE Adlin

wendell Castle, Gannett Staircase, 1976. Black walnut, h: 25 feet (7.62 m). Current location tk?

1. For a discussion of Peter York’s commentary on the hierarchy of “wall power” and “floor power,” see “Floor power: Move over contem-porary art (‘wall power’), DesignArt is taking to the floor,” Wallpaper (October 2008), p. 160.

2. Wendell Castle, quoted in Rockin’, exh. cat., Barry Friedman Gallery, New York (New York, 2010). p. 7.

3. Jane Adlin’s conversation with Wendell Castle took place on Febru-ary 9, 2012.

38

chairs, side chairs, stools, rockers, chaises, two- and three-seaters, and chairs incorporating tables and

lights. Clearly, the chair has become his most animated and least self-conscious form, and he is con-

tinually inspired by it.

Early inspiration for Castle came from a how-to column in a magazine that described the process

of sawing, gluing, and sanding variously sized cross-sections of pine to fashion duck decoys. Years later,

he discovered Leonard Baskin’s carved wood process: “He had glued wood together into a giant rect-

angular block and then carved. I thought, if only he had read the article about the duck decoy, he

could have saved a huge amount of wood and a huge amount of work. I thought, well, since he didn’t

figure that out—I’ve figured that out, and I’ll use it. So that’s where my laminations came from.”⁴

The notion that economically stacking shaped bits of pine could be used to create dynamic and

intriguing shapes, was an epiphany for Castle and a moment that would determine much of the char-

acter of his working life. Over time, this method of stack lamination gave him greater freedom to

develop an intricate vocabulary of forms and volumes with continually evolving possibilities. “I think

wendell Castle, Coromell, 2010. stained mahogany, 36½ x 56½ x 27½ inches (92.7 x 143.5 x 69.9 cm). private collection, united states.

4. Wendell Castle, quoted in “Wen-dell Castle: Sculptures You Can Sit On,” Katy Donoghue, Whitewall (Fall 2008), p. 91.

39

that one of the things that is consistent is that when I stopped making sculpture and decided I would

concentrate fully on furniture, it was because I felt it could be the same as sculpture.⁵ It had all those

qualities. And that made it okay for me to do. Nowadays, sculpture can be almost anything, but I still

like to think of it as having volumes and voids and all those things that are probably Brancusi-based

thinking.”

Surely, Castle has been influenced by the sculptural theory and formal language of Constantin

Brancusi (1876–1957). The artist’s approach to his work, often incorporating repetitive motifs,

rethought, re-considered, and refined, continue to serve as a model for Castle. Brancusi’s axiom “What

is real is not the external form, but the essence of things,” seems often to echo in the work of Wendell

Castle.⁶ When asked about other artists whose work inspired him Castle responded, “Henry Moore

and Jean Arp. I like organic things, soft-looking things.”

During the last decade, especially since 2005, Castle has revisited old assumptions with vigor, pro-

ducing several new bodies of work in a remarkably mature style of Apollonian forms and confident

wendell Castle, Moby Dick, 2009. stained cherry, 52½ x 77 x 37 inches (133.4 x 195.6 x 94 cm). private collection, switzerland.

5. Castle made the switch to furni-ture in 1963 while he was making Stool (II.xx [#90]). It was originally conceived as a sculpture.

6. Catalogue of Brancusi exhibition, Brummer Gallery, New York, November 1926 (n.p.).

40

abandon. In cantilevered tables and volumetric chairs, Castle’s signature trademarks of careful asym-

metry and composition of volumes have been exuberantly reinvented. The new furniture reflects his

ongoing exploration of organic shapes in wood and fiberglass and introduces other materials such as

nickel, stainless steel, bronze, concrete, and aluminum. Traces of his design vocabulary are evident in

the work, but nothing seems recycled. New not renewed, these pieces have a freedom unencumbered

by earlier considerations of the marketplace and the art world. His pierced volumes and frequent use

of negative space express a play of freedom and restraint. Contours and lines intersect or join, feel

expansive or encompassing; he virtually eliminates prescribed boundaries, pushing the size and form of

his designs as far as he can without losing all functionality.

wendell Castle, Nirvana, 2007. polychromed fiberglass, 34¾ x 62 3/8 x 33 5/8 inches (88.3 x 158.4 x 85.4 cm). susan nam, seoul, south korea.

41

Castle’s most recent work is among his most ambitious to date and is still in the process of being

built. His motivation grows with exciting elements of risk in every new work. At the same time, there

is a recognizable relationship and consistency of quality going back to Castle’s earliest work. True to his

origins, he has returned to stack-laminated woodworking and consistently devotes equal attention to

the concept and execution of every piece, from a small side table to a complex masterwork.

At the moment, Castle is straddling just that—he is mining his vast reserves of ideas and experi-

ence while taking a leap forward toward possibilities and innovation. He has conceived a monumental

environment—a two-story indoor structure—consisting of an irregularly rising and sloping iron floor

from which all of the furniture will grow. Each chair, table, and lamp will be supported by one leg only

(A New Environment, 2012, fig. 1) (cat. V.xx). As Castle explained, “I always feel like an explorer, staking

out a new territory. Each work is another fence-post defining the terrain.” He continued, “This proj-

fig. 1. wendell Castle, A New Environment, 2012. stained ash with oil finish, fiberglass, flokati carpet, dimensions variable. Current location?

49

Part 1 1958–1961 as a student at the University of Kansas, Wendell Castle studied sculpture and industrial design, reveal-ing an early interest in both form and function. during his graduate studies for a master of Fine arts degree, Castle merged the two on several occasions, which resulted in some of his most compelling pieces. His proclivity toward experimentation was already clearly manifest, and he approached the challenges of limited equipment and materials with creative aplomb. Wal-nut gunstock blanks sourced from a nearby factory were used for his main body of sculpture and informed its organic vocabulary. Castle’s earliest fur-niture pieces show his awareness of contemporary designers such as Finn Juhl and Carlo mollino, but with the landmark scribe stool—also made from gun-stock blanks—he created a work distinctly his own. By 1959, Castle was exhibiting at local galleries and entering competitions and had launched his profes-sional career as an artist.

50

I.xx ((ID #A144))

UntitledmatErials Unknown

dimEnsions Unknown

datE 1950s

signEd Unknown

ProvEnanCE Unknown

ExHiBition History Unknown

litEratUrE Unknown

CommEnts Studio inventory number is unassigned.

I.xx ((ID #197))

SculpturematErials Walnut

dimEnsions Unknown

datE c. 1958

signEd Unknown

ProvEnanCE Unknown

ExHiBition History Sixth Midwest Biennial Exhibition: Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Arts, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE, 1960

litEratUrE Unknown

CommEnts Studio inventory number is 197.

I.xx ((ID #242))

Walnut SculpturematErials Walnut

dimEnsions h: 55 in. (139.7 cm)

datE c. 1958

signEd Unknown

ProvEnanCE Unknown


litEratUrE Alastair Gordon, Wendell Castle: Wandering Forms – Works from 1959–1979 (New York: Gregory R. Miller & Co., 2012).


I.xx ((ID #A24))

UntitledmatErials Walnut


datE c. 1958

signEd Unknown

ProvEnanCE Unknown


litEratUrE Unknown


#242

#242

#A144 #197

51

I.xx ((ID #242))

UntitledmatErials Walnut

dimEnsions Unknown

datE c. 1958

signEd Unknown

ProvEnanCE Unknown


litEratUrE Unknown


I.xx ((ID #A29))

UntitledmatErials Copper

dimEnsions Unknown

datE c. 1958

signEd Unknown

ProvEnanCE Destroyed

ExHiBition History Sculpture in Wood and Copper by Wendell Castle, Little Gallery Frame Shop, Westwood, KS, July–August 1960

litEratUrE Unknown


I.xx ((ID #160))

Walnut SculpturematErials Walnut

dimEnsions 48 × 30 in. (121.9 × 76.2 cm)

datE c. 1958

signEd No

ProvEnanCE Wendell Castle and Nancy Jurs, Scottsville, NY




I.xx ((ID #163))

Mahogany SculpturematErials Mahogany


datE c. 1958

signEd Unknown

ProvEnanCE Unknown




#A29 #160 #163

139

Part 111: 1977–1989

Part 111 1977–1989 In dramatic counterpoint to Castle’s biomorphic work, his production during this time plumbed a multiplicity of references and explored the possibilities of ultimate refinement of form, materials, and finish.

Castle’s national reputation attracted tremendous talent to his workshop, including the master inlayers and carvers who were essential to realizing the virtuoso trompe l’oeil series. Unlike the stack-laminated pieces whose ultimate form unfolds while being sculpted, the design for these pieces was mapped out definitively from the beginning. The challenge or adventure here was to achieve perfection, as there was no room to conceal mistakes.

For the series, antiques were used as models, whether from life or taken from a book. Castle’s first compositions played with various everyday items arranged on tabletops, such as hats with briefcases and a grocery bag with a baguette. He then progressed the series to replicate only furniture that was familiar and immediately recognizable, as in the case of the Hepplewhite-style chair in Coat on Chair (III.xx [#511]). This succeeded in taking the viewer’s eye even longer to discover that it had been “fooled.”

In 1980, Castle was invited to comment on furniture in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which resulted in the publication The Fine Art of the Furniture Maker. He was impressed by the exceptionally fine furnishings of Art Deco masters, such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879–1933) and Süe et Mare (1875–1968 and 1885–1932), and was struck by the luxurious materials and outstanding execution. Castle made several pieces that referenced the Art Deco style, including Lady’s Writing Table with Chairs (III.xx [#494]) that received tremendous press for the record sales price it achieved.

By the early 1980s, Castle’s work displayed affinities with the postmodern movement. Pieces are layered with historical and pop cultural references, and forms are simple, allowing for color to become an integral part by delineating the forms or separate elements. Overall, these pieces read as two-dimensional and cartoonlike with a static monumentality in comparison to his fluid, freeform earlier work.

146

Dylan Landis, “A Delicate Balance: Artist Wendell Castle Redefines Furniture and Does it with Humor,” Chicago Tribune, March 27, 1988.

Pamela Lewis, “Tabling Questions of Art vs. Craft, Two Artists Make Statements in Utility,” The Houston Post (Houston, TX), March 7, 1987.

Madeleine McDermott Hamm, “Art Furniture: Alive and Well in Houston,” Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX), March 12, 1987.

Hugh Scriven, “Hugh Scriven Looks at the Work of Wendell Castle and his Students,” Woodworking Interna-tional (Summer 1987).

COMMenTS Studio inventory number is 828.

III,xx [#839]

This Way CabinetMATeRIALS Painted lacewood, ebony veneer, and brass hinges

DIMenSIOnS 29 × 32 × 16 in. (73.7 × 81.3 × 40.6 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD (Wendell Castle 1986)

PROvenAnCe Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY; Private collection, Greensborough, NC

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Wendell Castle New Work/Sculpture, Judy Youens Perception Galleries, Houston, TX, March 11–April 25, 1987

LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [#840]

EncouragedMATeRIALS Japanese ash and ebonized walnut

DIMenSIOnS 29 × 44 × 18 in. (73.7 × 111.8 × 45.7 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD (Wendell Castle 1986) left side, top

PROvenAnCe Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY; Lewis Collection, Richmond, VA

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Unknown

LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [841]

Secret PlanMATeRIALS Green-stained curly maple veneer and solid painted cherry

DIMenSIOnS 62 × 21 × 16 in. (157.5 × 53.3 × 40.6 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Unknown

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Wendell Castle: Recent Sculpture, Harcus Gallery, Boston, MA, January 7–February 7, 1987

Castle/Paley, Bevier Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, March 16–April 5, 1987

LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [845]

Ladder of ProvidenceMATeRIALS Bubinga veneer and ebonized cherry

DIMenSIOnS 60 × 32 × 17 in. (152.4 × 81.3 × 43.2 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; Private collection, Philadelphia, PA

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Time and Defiance of Gravity, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY, July 12–September 21, 1986; Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, October 1–December 2, 1986

LITeRATURe Unknown


II.841

II.845

II.839

II.840

147

III.xx [846]

Dr. Vermin’s AttitudeMATeRIALS Stained curly maple veneer, painted poplar, and ebonized cherry

DIMenSIOnS 57 × 34 × 15 in. (144.8 × 86.4 × 38.1 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD (Wendell Castle 1986) right side, top

PROvenAnCe Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY; Lewis collection, Richmond, VA


LITeRATURe “Artists Receive State Fellowships,” News and Events, Rochester Institute of Technology newsletter (Rochester, NY), September 12, 1986.

Janet Ghent, “Castle’s Current Mood Is Sheer Magic,” The Tribune (Oakland, CA), February 7, 1987.


III.xx [848]

Black Is the Color, Zero Is the NumberMATeRIALS Stained curly maple veneer, ebony veneer, and purpleheart

DIMenSIOnS 67 × 40 × 21 in. (170.2 × 101.6 × 53.3 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD No

PROvenAnCe Private collection, Greenwich, CT

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Time and Defiance of Gravity, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY, July 12–September 21, 1986; Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, October 1–December 2, 1986

Wendell Castle New Work/Sculpture, Judy Youens Percep-tion Galleries, Houston, TX, March 11–April 25, 1987

The Art of Wendell Castle, Hokin/Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 25–April 24, 1988

LITeRATURe “Exhibitions,” Fine Arts at Amherst newsletter, Amherst College (Amherst, MA), Spring 1987.

Dylan Landis, “A Delicate Balance: Artist Wendell Castle Redefines Furniture and Does it with Humor,” Chicago Tribune, March 27, 1988.


III.xx [849]

Olive Oyle’s ClimbaxMATeRIALS Gaboon ebony, aluminum, and cherry

DIMenSIOnS 70 × 42 × 32 in. (177.8 × 106.7 × 81.3 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Private collection, New York, NY

exHIBITIOn HISTORy The Art of Wendell Castle, Hokin/Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 25–April 24, 1988

Artful Objects: Recent American Crafts, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN, May 13–July 16, 1989

Furniture – in the Aluminum Vein, Kaiser Center Art Gallery, Oakland, CA, May 30–July 15, 1986

Artluminum, Maison Alcan, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, September 13–October 22, 1989

Kenan Center Show, Lockport, NY, November 1990

LITeRATURe Patricia Beach Smith, “Furniture Exhibit Lets Aluminum Prove its Mettle,” Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, CA), June 26, 1986.

Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Artful Objects: Recent American Crafts (Fort Wayne, IN: Fort Wayne Museum of Art, 1989).

Janet Ghent, “Aluminum as Furniture: Not Exactly your Basic Pots and Pans,” The Tribune (Oakland, CA), June 17, 1986.

Janet Ghent, “Castle’s Current Mood Is Sheer Magic,” The Tribune (Oakland, CA), February 7, 1987.

Al Morch, “Heavy Aluminum,” San Francisco Examiner, June 14, 1986.

Natalie Van Straaten, “‘Off the Wall’ Art Is Functional too,’” Skyline (Topeka, KS), March 10, 1988.


II.846 II.848

II.849

176

DIMenSIOnS 36 × 58 × 24 in. (91.4 × 147.3 × 61 cm)

DATe 1979

SIgneD (W. Castle 79) inscription on inner side of support

PROvenAnCe Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Purchased from the artist, museum purchase with funds donated by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Deborah M. Noonan Foundation. Acc. no. 1979.266.

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Contemporary Works by Master Craftsmen, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1978

Sitting in Style: Wendell Castle, Tage Frid, Judy Kensley McKie; Contemporary Furniture in Cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts, Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA, May 18–June 30, 1980

Furniture by Wendell Castle, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, December 5, 1989–February 4, 1990; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE, March 9–May 13, 1990; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, June 19–August 19, 1990; Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, November 17, 1990–January 20, 1991; American Craft Museum, New York, NY, February 14–April 30, 1991

The Maker’s Hand: American Studio Furniture, 1940–1990, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, November 12, 2003–February 8, 2004

LITeRATURe Sally Eauclaire, “Wendell Castle: Wood, Form and Space,” Craft Horizons (December 1978).

Jonathan Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture 1620 to the Present (New York: Richard Marek Publishers, 1981).

Edward S. Cooke, Jr., Davira S. Taragin, and Joseph Giovannini, Furniture by Wendell Castle (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1989).

MFA Preview, “Man Acquires Handcrafted Furniture,” (February/March 1980).

Ron Netsky, “Carving out a Career: Retrospective Surveys Art of Wendell Castle,” Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), December 23, 1990.

COMMenTS This settee is a version of the one originally made for Gannett Newspaper Corporation, now in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, II.xx [#250]. Studio inventory number is unassigned.

III.xx [A21]

Double Chair-Back SetteeMATeRIALS Walnut

DIMenSIOnS 28¾ × 47 × 17½ in. (73 × 119.4 × 44.5 cm)

DATe 1979

SIgneD (W. Castle 79)

PROvenAnCe Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Acc. no. 1979.270.

exHIBITIOn HISTORy The Maker’s Hand: American Studio Furniture, 1940–1990, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, November 12, 2003–February 8, 2004

LITeRATURe Jonathan Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture 1620 to the Present (New York: Richard Marek Publishers, 1981).

COMMenTS Studio inventory number is unassigned.

III.xx [A146]

Sling ChairMATeRIALS Oak and leather

DIMenSIOnS 35½ × 29 × 36 in. (90.2 × 73.7 × 91.4 cm)

DATe 1979

SIgneD (WC 79)

PROvenAnCe Wendell Castle and Nancy Jurs, Scottsville, NY


LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [B201]

Desk ChairMATeRIALS Elm

DIMenSIOnS 29½ × 21¾ × 18 in. (74.9 × 55.2 × 45.7 cm)

DATe 1979

SIgneD No

PROvenAnCe Private collection, Ohio


LITeRATURe Unknown

COMMenTS This chair was commissioned to accompany Desk, III.xx [#84] and Chair, III.xx [B200]. Studio inventory number is unassigned.

III.xx [537]

Zephyr ChairsMATeRIALS Walnut

DIMenSIOnS 28½ × 26 × 23 in. (72.4 × 66 × 58.4 cm)

DATe 1979

SIgneD Varies

PROvenAnCe Private collection, Cambridge, MA

Beverly Hafner, Rochester, NY; Unknown

David Gilhooly, Newport, OR

Wendell Castle and Nancy Jurs, Scottsville, NY


LITeRATURe Unknown

COMMenTS Four chairs were made. The sleigh-like supports are a variation on the Zephyr model. One chair was remade with a hoop base in 1987. Studio inventory number is 537.

III.xx [512]

Zephyr RockerMATeRIALS Curly maple

DIMenSIOnS 28 × 26 × 40 in. (71.1 × 66 × 101.6 cm)

DATe 1981


PROvenAnCe Private collection, Scarsdale, NY; Private collection, Glen Ridge, NJ


LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [A147]

Three-Legged ChairMATeRIALS Cherry

DIMenSIOnS 28½ × 24½ × 21 in. (72.4 × 62.2 × 53.3 cm)

DATe 1980


II.512

II.A147

177

PROvenAnCe Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC; Private collection, New York


LITeRATURe Patricia Conway, Art for Everyday (New York: Clarkson Potter Publishers, 1990).

COMMenTS This chair is a new variation of the three-legged Alpha. Another version was made to accompany Three-Legged Thumb Desk, III.xx [#429]. Studio inventory number is unassigned.

III.xx [429.1]

Three-Legged ChairMATeRIALS Maple

DIMenSIOnS 28 × 25 × 25 in. (71.1 × 63.5 × 63.5 cm)

DATe 1980


PROvenAnCe Kagan Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Private collection, Santa Fe, NM

Private collection, Florida


LITeRATURe Unknown

COMMenTS This chair was made en suite with Three-Legged Thumb Desk, III.xx [#429]. Studio inventory number is 429.

III.xx [428]

Victory ChairMATeRIALS Walnut

DIMenSIOnS 29 × 32 × 24 in. (73.7 × 81.3 × 61 cm)

DATe 1980


PROvenAnCe Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC; Private collection, Washington, DC

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Furniture as Art II, Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC, November 5–29, 1980

Evolution of the Workspace, Steelcase Inc., New York, NY, July 11–November 4, 1983


LITeRATURe Sarah Booth Conroy, “The Art You Would Love to Use,” The Washington Post (Washington, DC), November 16, 1980.

Edward S. Cooke, Jr., Davira S. Taragin, and Joseph Giovannini, Furniture by Wendell Castle (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1989).

David H. Hanks, The Evolution of the Workspace (New York: Steelcase, Inc., 1983).

M.F. Kennedy, “Earthly Angels,” Town & Country (February 1992).

Jo Ann Lewis, “Unusual Gifts from Bugs to Blocks,” The Washington Post (Washington, DC), December 13, 1980.

Todd Merrill and Julie V. Iovine, Modern Americana: Studio Furniture from High Craft to High Glam (New York: Rizzoli, 2008).

Ron Netsky, “Carving out a Career,” Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), December 23, 1990.

COMMenTS Victory Chair was made en suite with Victory Desk, III.xx [#428]. Studio inventory number is 428.

III.xx [553]

Apollo Arm ChairMATeRIALS Cherry and suede

DIMenSIOnS 29¾ × 23 × 24 in. (75.6 × 58.4 × 61 cm)

DATe 1980

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Unknown


LITeRATURe “Wendell Castle: Imagination by Design,” Gunlocke Forum, vol. 2, no. 3.


III.xx [A213A]

Dining ChairsMATeRIALS Cherry and leather

DIMenSIOnS 31 × 23½ × 18 in. (78.7 × 59.7 × 45.7 cm)

DATe 1980


PROvenAnCe Private collection, Brookline, MA


LITeRATURe Unknown

II.428

II.429.1553

214

Time and Defiance of Gravity, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, July 12– September 21, 1986; Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, October 1–December 2, 1986


LITeRATURe Edward S. Cooke, Jr., Davira S. Taragin, and Joseph Giovannini, Furniture by Wendell Castle (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1989).

Penelope Bass Cope, “Matter . . . of fact: Showcase,” Matter (July 1990).

___, “Making Furniture into Sculpture,” Sunday News Journal (Wilmington, DE), March 11, 1990.

Arthur C. Danto, Peter T. Joseph, and Emma T. Cobb, Angel Chairs: New Work by Wendell Castle (New York: Peter Joseph Gallery, 1991).

Susan Dodge Peters, “The Big Time,” City Newspaper (Rochester, NY), July 24, 1986.

“Exhibitions,” Fine Arts at Amherst [College], newsletter of the Associates of Fine Arts, Spring 1987.

Lisa Hammel, Time and Defiance of Gravity: Recent Works by Wendell Castle (Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1986).

Sebby Wilson Jacobson, “Keys to the Castle,” Times-Union (Rochester, NY), December 27, 1990.

Dylan Landis, “Furniture Is the Canvas for Wendell Castle’s Wild Ideas,” Chicago Tribune, December 31, 1989.


Edward J. Sozanski, “The Table as Artistic Statement,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 25, 1990.

Sally Vallongo, “Wendell Castle Takes an Artistic View of Furniture,” The Blade (Toledo, OH), December 17, 1989.


III.xx [833]

VespertineMATeRIALS Solid curly maple and stained curly maple veneer

DIMenSIOnS 34½ × 38 × 26 in. (87.6 × 96.5 × 66 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY; Unknown

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Second Annual Wendell Castle School Faculty Show, Dawson Gallery, Rochester, NY, January 9–February 10, 1987

Wendell Castle New Work/Sculpture, Judy Youens Perception Galleries, Houston, TX, March 11–April 25, 1987

LITeRATURe Sebby Wilson Jacobson, “More Dream Castles,” Times-Union (Rochester, NY), January 22, 1987.


“On the cover. . .: Wendell Castle at Perception,” Art Now/Southwest Gallery Guide (March 1987).


III.xx [835]

ReadyMATeRIALS Stained curly maple veneer

DIMenSIOnS 40 × 40 × 17 in. (101.6 × 101.6 × 43.2 cm)

DATe 1986


PROvenAnCe Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY; Marie Stuart, Pennsylvania

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Wendell Castle New Work/Sculpture, Judy Youens Perception Galleries, Houston, TX, March 11–April 25, 1987

LITeRATURe Theresa Forsman, “Furniture for Art’s Sake,” The Record (Hackensack, NJ), July 6, 1986.


“New and Notable,” Industrial Design (September/October 1986).



III.xx [836]

LuckyMATeRIALS Ebonized cherry, stained and painted curly maple veneer, and lacquered maple

DIMenSIOnS 44 × 23⅝ × 15½ in. (111.8 × 60 × 39.4 cm)

DATe 1986


PROvenAnCe Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY; The Art Institute of Chicago. Raymond W. Garbe Fund in honor of Carl A. Erickson, Sr. Acc. no. 1987.122.

LITeRATURe Milo M. Naeve, Identifying American Furniture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, Colonial to Contempo-rary (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1989).


III.xx [837]

Sooner or LaterMATeRIALS Painted curly maple and painted poplar

DIMenSIOnS without base: 63 × 17 × 17 in. (160 × 43.2 × 43.2 cm); base: 1½ × 56 × 39 in. (3.8 × 142.2 × 99.1 cm)

II.833 II.835

215

DATe 1986

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY; Unknown


LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [842]

Trompe L’oeil Dining TableMATeRIALS Bleached maple, purpleheart legs, and ebony feet

DIMenSIOnS 29½ × 70 × 45 in. (74.9 × 177.8 × 114.3 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD (Wendell Castle)

PROvenAnCe Marie Rolf and Robin Lehman, New York


LITeRATURe Unknown

COMMenTS The dining table is fitted with four drawers, two on each side. Studio inventory number is 842.

III.xx [851]

Ladder of TrustMATeRIALS Ebonized and painted solid cherry and stained maple veneer

DIMenSIOnS 63 × 42½ × 23 in. (160 × 108 × 58.4 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Unknown


LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [852]

Ladder of JusticeMATeRIALS Stained curly maple veneer and stained and painted solid maple

DIMenSIOnS 52 × 40 × 16½ in. (132.1 × 101.6 × 41.9 cm)

DATe 1986

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Alexander F. Milliken Gallery, New York, NY; Private collection, New York, NY

exHIBITIOn HISTORy The Art of Wendell Castle, Hokin/Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 25–April 24, 1988

LITeRATURe Unknown


II.836

II.837

II.851

852

226

PROvenAnCe Wendell Castle and Nancy Jurs, Scottsville, NY


LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [A167]

Dictionary StandMATeRIALS Walnut

DIMenSIOnS 42 × 23 × depth? in. (106.7 × 58.4 × depth? cm)

DATe 1980

SIgneD (W Castle 80)

PROvenAnCe Private collection, Buffalo, NY


LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [A176]

Dictionary StandMATeRIALS Walnut

DIMenSIOnS top: 41 × 24 × 20 in. (104.1 × 61 × 50.8 cm); bottom: 41 × 25½ × 20 in. (41 × 64.8 × 50.8 cm)

DATe 1980

SIgneD (W. Castle 80) under top

PROvenAnCe The Store for Art in Crafts, Verona, PA; Roslyn Litman, Pittsburgh, PA


LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [B34]

Dictionary StandMATeRIALS Oak

DIMenSIOnS 40½ × 24 × 16¾ in. (102.9 × 61 × 42.5 cm)

DATe 1980

SIgneD Inscribed dedication and date

PROvenAnCe Private collection, Greenwich, CT


LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [586]

Dictionary StandMATeRIALS Imbuya

DIMenSIOnS 39 × 14 × 24 in. (99.1 × 35.6 × 61 cm)

DATe 1982


PROvenAnCe Private collection, Virginia


LITeRATURe Unknown


Kate Carmel ed., American Craft Museum honors Barbara and Donald Tober: Celebrate the Artistic Life (New York: American Craft Museum, 1993).

Arthur C. Danto, Peter T. Joseph, and Emma T. Cobb, Angel Chairs: New Work by Wendell Castle (New York: Peter Joseph Gallery, 1991).

Emanuela Frattini Magnusson, “Mecenate a N.Y.,” Casa Vogue (February 1994).

Katharine Whittemore, “The Crafting of Art,” Investment Vision (February/March 1991).

[2504

III.xx [2504]

Speaking Words of WisdomMATeRIALS Stained mahogany and white gold leaf

DIMenSIOnS 46½ × 29 × 24 in. (118.1 × 73.7 × 61 cm)

DATe 1989

SIgneD See Comments

PROvenAnCe Peter T. Joseph, New York, NY; Unknown


LITeRATURe Marilyn Bethany, “The Art of Craft,” New York magazine (February 18, 1991).

227

COMMenTS The following, by Eugene O’Neill, is incised onto the base: “The tragedy of life is what makes it worthwhile. I think that any life which merits living lies in the effort to realize some dream, and the higher that dream is, the harder it is to realize. Most decidedly, we must all have our dreams. If one hasn’t them, one might as well be dead—one is dead. The only success is in failure. Any man who has a big enough dream must be a failure and must accept that as one of the conditions of being alive. If he ever thinks for a moment that he is a success, then he is finished. He stops.” Studio inventory number is 2504.

III.xx [2544]

Cone Reading StandMATeRIALS Ebonized cherry, curly walnut veneer, poplar, leather, bowling ball, and cue balls

DIMenSIOnS height? × 31½ × 24 in. (height? × 80 × 61 cm)

DATe 1989

SIgneD Unknown

PROvenAnCe Janis Wetsman Collection, Farmington, MI; Private collection, Birmingham, MI

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Of Wonder and Delight, Janis Wetsman Collection, Farmington, MI, November 16–December 22, 1989

LITeRATURe Unknown


III.xx [2543]

Caligari Reading StandMATeRIALS Baltic birch, ebony, ebony veneer, mahogany, brass, gesso, aniline dye, and acrylic paint

DIMenSIOnS 34 × 22½ × 31 in. (86.4 × 57.2 × 78.7 cm)

DATe 1989


PROvenAnCe Peter T. Joseph, New York, NY; Unknown

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Sculpture 90, Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC, June–July 1990

LITeRATURe Unknown

COMMenTS This reading stand is part of the Dr. Caligari series, started in 1984. Other pieces in the series include a cabinet, III.xx [#2545]; a clock, III.xx [#688]; a mantle clock, III.xx [#1075]; chairs, III.xx [#822] and III.xx [#2541]; and desks, III.xx [#822] and III.xx [#2516]. Analogous to the 1980s series, Castle designed furniture commissioned by Peter T. Joseph that consisted of library paneling, IV.xx [#2627]; a piano, IV.xx [#2550] and piano stool, IV.xx [#2550]; a desk, IV.xx [#2559] and desk chair, [#2559]; a sofa, IV.xx [#2661]; a chair, IV.xx [#2661]; and a rug, IV.xx [#2673]. Studio inventory number is 2543.

III.xx [859]

Trompe L’oeil Umbrella StandMATeRIALS Maple

DIMenSIOnS 36 × 15 × 17 in. (91.4 × 38.1 × 43.2 cm)

DATe 1977

SIgneD (W.C. 77) on exterior near base

PROvenAnCe Peter T. Joseph, New York, NY; Wendy Evans Joseph, New York, NY

exHIBITIOn HISTORy Sixteen American Woodcarvers, Craft Center, Worcester, MA, February 11–March 24, 1978; Warner Communications, New York, NY, April 3–28, 1978

Illusions, Carl Solway Gallery, New York, NY, May 9–June 3, 1978

Wood: Traditions/Innovations, Furniture and Objects by Fourteen American Woodworkers, Richard Kagan Studio and Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, November 3–December 17, 1978

Official residence of the vice president (Walter Mondale) of the U.S., Washington, DC, 1979–1980

New Handmade Furniture: American Furniture Masters Working in Hardwood, American Craft Museum, New York, NY, May 13–July 15, 1979; Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, May 28–July 6, 1980


LITeRATURe American Craft Museum: Celebration 25 (New York: American Craft Council: 1981).

American Woodcarvers catalogue, Craft Center, Worcester, MA, 1979.

2544 859

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