Art In Motion
A MAJOR EXHIBITION BY KINETIC ARTIST GEORGE RICKEY IS ON VIEW AT NAUMKEAG
By Tara Consolati // Photos By Jimmy ienner, Jr.
The artist finds waiting for him, as subject, not the trees, not the flowers, not the landscape, but the waving of branches and the trembling of stems, the piling up or scudding of clouds, the rising and setting and waxing and waning of heavenly bodies. (George Rickey, “The Morphology of Movement: A Study of Kinetic Art,” Art Journal, Summer 1963.)
Two Open Triangles Up (Non gyratory), 1982, stainless steel, George Rickey Estate, 115” x 57”
It has often been said that our beloved Berkshires is a summertime mecca for wanderers seeking restoration and inspiration. With its natural beauty, annual music and theater festivals, and thriving arts scene, it’s no wonder that historic literary notables—such as Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, W.E.B. DuBois, and Edith Wharton—waxed poetic about what our little nook has to offer.
Exploring the outdoors also is the perfect opportunity to view outdoor exhibitions on view over the summer months and into the fall. They include the SculptureNow group exhibition at The Mount in Lenox, which continues through October 19, and Jonathan Prince’s solo show that opens on the grounds of Chesterwood in Stockbridge on July 1 and runs through October 24. But perhaps the most impressive exhibit this summer season is the kinetic sculptures of George Rickey, ViewEscapes, on the grounds of The Trustees of Reservation’s Naumkeag, perched on a hilltop in Stockbridge.
Two Conical Segments Gyratory Gyratory IV Seven Axes, 1979, stainless steel, George Rickey Estate, 123” x 124”
“This is a rare and exciting opportunity to experience the brilliance of Rickey’s dynamic art within the architectural context, natural setting, and scenic beauty of Naumkeag,” says Mark Wilson, curator of collections for The Trustees.
Naumkeag is the former home of the prominent Choate family from New York City, who were passionate about art, nature, gardens, and travel, and bequeathed the property in 1959 to The Trustees to preserve and share for public use and enjoyment. Now a National Historic Landmark and one of The Trustees’ most-visited properties, Naumkeag features a historic homestead designed by one of the coun- try’s most preeminent architectural firms, McKim, Mead & White, and public gardens designed by America’s leading modern landscape architect, Fletcher Steele.
Double L Excentric Gyratory III, 1982, stainless steel, George Rickey Estate, 282” x 70”
“We are honored to showcase George Rickey’s work throughout Naumkeag’s interior and exterior spaces, which are masterful works of art and architectural design in themselves,” says Brian Cruey, Trustees Southern Berkshires Property Director who oversees management and programming at Naumkeag. (Rickey’s work also can be found in the collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which hosted a retrospective of the artist in 1979, and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Tate Gallery.)
“The consistent breeze on the hilltop at Naumkeag will help set the outdoor sculptures into motion and provide an ideal setting to showcase his incredible work,” says Wilson.
Rickey’s sculptures have been exhibited at Naumkeag previously. Two of his iconic pieces were included in Sculpture at Naumkeag: A Celebration of Great American Sculpture (1994) and another in Sculpture at Naumkeag (1997). This special solo exhibition at Naumkeag, on view through November 1, features 12 large-scale sculptures pictorially placed throughout the gardens, as well as eight smaller sculptures and three works of art in the house. Coordinated in partnership with the George Rickey Foundation and the George Rickey Estate, LLC, ViewEscapes is one of the largest Rickey exhibitions in the Northeast in more than 40 years, only adding to the excitement of the historic Gilded Age homestead. Rickey set up his home and studio in East Chatham, New York, in 1960. Just 30 miles from Naumkeag, it was where he created most of his large-scale work. The artist also had family ties near the Berkshires, with his paternal grandfather, a clockmaker in Athol, Massachusetts, and his great-grandparents who lived in Salisbury, Connecticut.
UNFOLDING SQUARE III, 1995, STAINLESS STEEL, PRIVATE COLLECTION, 216” H,
Born in 1907 in South Bend, Indiana, Rickey moved to Scotland when he was just a child and spent much of his time traveling Europe as he got older. Though his earlier works of art focused primarily on painting, he always had a keen interest in engineering and mechanical workings. This eventually led him to study the works of abstract painter and sculptor David Smith, who was best known for creating large, steel, abstract works of art. In the late 1940s, Rickey turned from painting to kinetic sculpture— large works of art whose metal parts move in response to even the slightest air currents.
“I had to develop a language, but what was I going to say with it? I did not want merely to set static art in motion, nor to describe the dynamic world around me in a series of moving imag- es. I wanted the whole range of movement itself at my disposal, not in order to describe the world around me, but to be itself, performing in a world of its own,” Rickey said in 1985. (He died at the age of 95, in 2002.)
Space Churn Red, 1959-1964, painted mild-steel and stainless steel, George Rickey Foundation, 144” x 78”
On a recent visit to Naumkeag with my two daughters—initially reluctant cohorts who ended up remembering just how much they love the gardens—I was mesmerized by the various pieces, gracefully moving with the breeze. Some captivated us more than others, as their movements not only instilled a sense of calm but also seemed to transform each piece into an entirely new shape. We found ourselves eagerly seeking out the next sculpture to see how this one compared to the last. What I found equally intrigu- ing was how each piece, though modern and abstract in design, somehow fit perfectly with its surroundings. Some sculptures were in the gardens; others were adjacent to the parking lot. One was down a tree-lined path, a huge red orb, vastly different from the others (Space Churn Red, 1968); still another was seemingly floating above the water in the fountain (Horizontal Column of Seven Squares Excentric, 1996). With its bolder, chunkier pieces and shiny silver facings, the larger squares were able to capture the light—stunning as the sun was about to set. I left the estate with not only a sense of calm, but also a newfound appreciation for the juxtaposition of the pieces in this exhibition: soft, lush, natural landscape and hard, abstract, modern sculpture, oddly paired, yet in perfect harmony.
ViewEscapes: George Rickey Kinetic Sculpture, on exhibit at Naumkeag, 5 Prospect Hill Road in Stockbridge, through November 1.