''The Dance'' is an outdoor 2000

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

Linda Ridgway Linda Ridgway (born 1947) is an American artist in Dallas, TX known for sculpting and printmaking works. Her focus is on themes of femininity, tradition, and heritage. Ridgway is known for her bronze wall reliefs. Early life and education Ri ...

, installed at the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden The Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden is a sculpture garden located at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) in Houston, Texas, United States. Designed by artist and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi, the garden consists of 25 works o ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Description and history

The sculpture measures 82 × 233 1/2 × 48 in. (208.3 × 593.1 × 121.9 cm). Ridgway cast the artwork from a grapevine in her backyard. The work was commissioned by the museum "in celebration of the life of Karen H. Susman from the partners and spouses at Susman Godfrey L.L.P.". It was unveiled in a private ceremony in 2000.

Reception

In 2000, Jeanne Claire van Ryzin of the ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internation ...

'' said the artwork "is a delicate piece like so much of Ridgway's other work". In 2016, Culture Trip's Lucy Andia wrote, "The connection between art and nature is no more explicit than in Linda Ridgway’s, ''The Dance'' which was cast from a grapevine that grew in her own backyard. Positioned as though it is freely crawling up the wall, this sculpture serves as a reminder that art can be natural in the same way that nature can be art. Here Ridgway has articulated the trend of imitation of the organic that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s in such ideal surroundings that it is hard to imagine this sculpture existing anywhere else." In 2018, the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' Molly Glentzer said the sculpture "could be mistaken for a dormant vine on a wall" and wrote, "But Linda Ridgway's delicate site-specific piece always demands a look. It tricks my gardening eyes even though I know what it is, clinging to a wall like a dormant grapevine."

References

External links

Commissions
at LindaRidgway.com 2000 establishments in Texas 2000 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Texas Dance in art Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden Plants in art {{Texas-sculpture-stub

Description and history

Reception

See also

References

External links