DONALD BAECHLER

(AMERICAN, BORN 1956)

Flowers (Tulips), 2004
bronze
63.5 x 45.5 x 17 inches
Gift of Connie and Les Buechele

Known for his creative use of simple icons, Donald Baechler's lighthearted sculptures are casual yet contemplative. Baechler’s work Flowers (Tulips), 2004, communicates his preoccupation with the formal elements of line, shape, balance and texture. Using animated, recognizable subject matter Baechler’s pieces are intended to evoke simple visual connections.

Flowers are a recurring motif in Baechler’s artistic vocabulary. Here, in the context of the Park, with its many flora, the deformed and droopy bronze blooms, cast with a gritty surface, are intentionally in contrast with the natural beauty of our manicured gardens. These perennials that brighten front lawns and spring to life in green patches, work all year for a mere two to three weeks of flowering. Baechler’s somewhat crude representation teeters between raw simplicity and playful abstraction while illustrating the fleeting bloom of the tulip flower.

Sculpture Interaction Guideline: Look, But Do Not Touch

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Donald Baechler was bor in Hartford, Connecticut in 1956. He studied at Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore; Cooper Union, New York and Staatliche Hochschule für bildende Künste, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His recent selected solo exhibitions include: Bohman Gallery, Stockholm; Cheim & Read, New York; Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland; Art Pavilion, Zagreb, Croatia; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris; Museo Magi, Pieve di Cento, Bologna, Italy; Galerie Alain Noirhomme, Knokke, Belgium; IBM Sculpture Garden, New York; Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten MMKK, Klagenfurt, Austria; Museum der Moderne, Rupertinum, Salzburg; Tony Shafrazi, New York; Greenberg Van Doren, St. Louis. His recent selected group exhibition include: Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York City; Museo di Arte Moderna, Trento; Omi International Arts Center, Ghent; Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York; Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm; Sister Gallery, Los Angeles; La Maison Rouge, Paris; White Columns, New York; Sammlung Essl, Vienna; MoCA Miami. His work is included in the public collections of: Albertina Museum, Vienna; Centre George Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne; Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Malmö Konsthall; Musée Strassbourg,; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston ; Museum Ludwig, Budapest; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Orlando Museum of Art; Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen, Germany; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland; Whitney Museum of American Art.