March 1, 1959
A new sculpture by the contemporary American, Leo Steppat, has just been acquired by the Brooklyn Museum. Entitled “Rearing Stallion,” it is now on view in the Museum’s Sculpture Court on the 5th floor. It is the gift of Mr. Robert D. Kaufman. This work of forged iron, completed in 1957, stands nearly 4 feet high. An assemblage of Cubist forms, it nevertheless portrays a realistic rearing stallion. Steppat was born in 1910 in Vienna where he studied at the University from 1929-31 and later at the Academy of Fine Arts in that city, where he also was given exhibitions. He came to the United States in 1940 and the following year was awarded a prize from the War Department, Public Building Administration, in Washington, D.C. He has taught at the American University in Washington, the Universities of Indiana and Mississippi, and is currently in the art department of the University of Wisconsin. He has won many awards in the Midwest and has had a number of one-man shows in New York galleries. Steppat’s work is in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and now the Brooklyn Museum.
JAPANESE DRAWINGS
Seven drawings from 18th- and 19th-century Japan will be on view in the 2nd floor Oriental Galleries through March 6. They suggest some directions taken in Japanese work during this period. Two drawings come from the Kano School which derives its subject matter from the classic art of Sung China and Ashikaga Japan. They are “Bamboo” and “Men Playing Board Game.” Three drawings from the Shijo School show a direct study of nature: “Bird on Branch,” “Monkey” and “Fruit” parallel to some extent Western concepts of sketching. A Hokusai, “Large Octopuses,” demonstrates good reportorial draftsmanship; and a Kyosai, “Fighting Frogs,” has obvious humor.
CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL TIME
“A Caribbean Festival” by the “Carabali” group of dancers, singers and drummers, with commentary by the dramatic actors Alex Foster, will be a special feature for children at the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday, January 17, at 3:00 p.m. Dances and songs from Haiti, Santo Domingo, Trinidad, Jamaica, Martinique and Puerto Rico will include such popular forms as the calypso, the merengue, religious and secular chants. Also to be heard is some popular source material such as the jota from Spain and a hymn to the sun from the Incas in Peru. This will offer both an ethnic and musical experience, open free to the public. Planned by the Education Division, this activity is made possible through funds raised by the Parents-Schools Committee for Better Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1953 - 1970. 1959, 004-5. View Original
