Hexangulate, 1988
painted bronze and mixed metal
39 1/2" x 51" x 39"
Community Holiday Festival, 1980
lithograph
32" x 36"
Spane, 1987
paint on steel
39" x 35" x 30"
Nancy Graves (1939-1995) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and sometimes filmmaker known for her focus on natural phenomena like camels and maps of the moon. Her works are included in many public collections, including those of the National Gallery of Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Smithsonian American Art Museum. She was the first woman to receive a solo retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Graves's most famous sculpture, Camels, was first displayed in the Whitney Museum. The sculpture features three separate camels, each made of many materials, among them burlap, wax, fiberglass, and animal skin. Each camel is also painted with acrylics and oil colors to appear realistic. Graves also created a distinctive body of aerial landscapes, mostly based on maps of the moon and similar sources.
