Sculpture Gardens at the Baltimore Museum of Art

Eight-Part Circle, Michael Heizer. 1976/1987 and 100 Yard Dash, Alexander Calder. 1969

The perfect harmony between art and nature exists in the Levi sculpture garden at the Baltimore Museum of Art.  A painted-red, steel sculpture by Alexander Calder is centrally located within the garden, and provides a complementary contrast to the verdant foliage.  Michael Heizer’s Eight-Part Circle is assembled nearby.  Heizer, born in 1944, earned a reputation for the creation of large-size earth art projects.  Within this garden, his geometric granite forms appear to be deconstructed from the whole circle.  Heizer’s manipulation of spatial relationships poses a puzzle for the viewer, somewhat like a seven-part Chinese tangram.

(l-r) Noh Musicians, Isamu Noguchi. 1958/1974 and  Large Boxing Hare on Anvil, Barry Flannagan, 1984.

     The garden is vested in abstract works by very famous sculptors, but does include a figurative Hare by Barry Flannagan.  The enigmatic posture of a hare standing on an anvil conveys a sense of fantasy. Another sculpture by Isamu Noguchi alludes to a type of Japanese theatrical performance, referred to as Noh theater.  Noguchi created abstract musicians with stainless steel and a surface treatment that shimmers in the sunlight. 

Three-Piece Reclining Figure No. 1, Henry Moore. 1961-62

     The Levi garden adjoins the Wurtzburger garden, but each space is separated by terraced levels.  A large bronze-cast Three-Piece Reclining Figure by Henry Moore is prominently featured within the Wurtzburger collection.  Moore’s Reclining Figure is an anthropomorphic mass that may also suggest rock formations eroded by wind and water.  The stability of Moore’s sculpture evokes ideas about the human condition. Both gardens provide a relaxed ambience and opportunity for contemplation.

References:

Foster, Hal, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois and Benjamin Buchloh. Art Since 1900:
   Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism, vol 2. New York: Thames & Hudson, 
   2004.

Collection – Sculpture Gardens. 2007. The Baltimore Museum of Art.
   http://www.artbma.org/collection/overview/sculpture.html (accessed Aug 10, 2013).