''Clamdigger'' is a bronze sculpture by
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter El ...
. It may have been inspired by "the men who
dug for clams along the beaches" near his home in
East Hampton, New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York. At the time of the 2020 United States census, it had a tot ...
. It has been described as one of his "extraordinarily tactile figurative sculptures" that "seemed pulled from the primordial ooze," and "as part man, part creature of the mud and the shallows."
The sculpture was modeled in clay in 1972, and cast in bronze in 1976. It was his "first large-scale bronze work."
As of 2014, ''Clamdigger'' is on display in the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was desig ...
.
De Kooning, known for his
abstract expressionist
Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of th ...
paintings, took up sculpture later in his career, after a 1969 visit with a friend in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
"who had a small
foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
."
See also
*
List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 2
This is a list of public art in List of neighborhoods of the District of Columbia by ward, Ward 2 of Washington, D.C..
This list applies only to works of public art accessible in an outdoor public space. For example, this does not include artw ...
References
External links
''Clam digger'' sketch by de Kooning
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clamdigger
1976 sculptures
Sculptures by Willem de Kooning
Bronze sculptures in Washington, D.C.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Sculptures of the Smithsonian Institution
Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C.
Sculptures of men in Washington, D.C.