Triumph of the Egg

Object Details

Artist

Jeremy Anderson, born Palo Alto, CA 1921-died Mill Valley, CA 1982

Luce Center Label

The title of this piece probably refers to Sherwood Anderson's 1921 "The Triumph of the Egg." In the short story, the narrator tells how the egg spoils his family's hopes for success, first as chicken farmers and later as restaurateurs. The triumph of the egg is the continuous cycle of "the chicken and the egg," which leads the narrator to ponder the meaning of life. Jeremy Anderson (no relation to the author) depicts a human hand coming out of a speckled egg. Keeping the story in mind, we might suspect that the eggshell in this piece imprisons a person and that the hand calls for help or searches for an escape. The sculpture may also be a metaphor for Anderson's birth, since the short story was published the same year the artist was born.

Luce Object Quote

". . . Taking the world apart is easy, it is getting it back together in an acceptable form that is difficult." Jeremy Anderson, quoted in Artweek, March 22, 1975

Credit Line

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak

1970

Object number

1983.92.1

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Sculpture

Medium

assembled, painted and shellacked wood, fiberglass and sand

Dimensions

20 x 16 x 6 3/4 in. (50.8 x 40.6 x 17.1 cm.)

See more items in

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department

Painting and Sculpture

On View

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 49B

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Topic

Fantasy

Figure\fragment\arm

Object\foodstuff\egg

Record ID

saam_1983.92.1

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7b171761b-fd0c-43d3-a231-d772138766e6