The Secret Happy End
Jean-Michel Othoniel
Contemporary Art
Jean-Michel Othoniel has transformed this utilitarian vehicle—a nineteenth-century covered wagon known as a prairie schooner—into an elegant object of beauty by remaking its canvas cover with panes of blown glass and adding swags and finials composed of oversized glass beads.
The artist, who favors alterable materials, began working with sulfur and wax and since 1993 has also experimented with the possibilities presented by glass. The potential for transformation that occurs with this material is echoed here by themes of migration and social change suggested by the covered wagon, part of the collective memory and mythology of American culture.
The artist, who favors alterable materials, began working with sulfur and wax and since 1993 has also experimented with the possibilities presented by glass. The potential for transformation that occurs with this material is echoed here by themes of migration and social change suggested by the covered wagon, part of the collective memory and mythology of American culture.
MEDIUM
Murano glass, Saint Just's mirror glass, metal, vintage carriage
DATES
2008
DIMENSIONS
Display dims: 106 5/16 x 145 11/16 x 59 1/16 in. (270 x 370 x 150 cm)
Storage dims: Wagon without wheels and glass: 98 1/2 x 71 x 142 in. (250.2 x 180.3 x 360.7 cm)
Storage MOVE DIMS (crate group as stack on pallet CR6, 3, 9): 65 × 42 × 48 in. (165.1 × 106.7 × 121.9 cm)
Storage MOVE DIMS (crate group as stack on pallet. CR11, 12, 10, 13, 16): 80 (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Contemporary Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
2010.11
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris/Miami, and the artist
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Jean-Michel Othoniel (French, born 1964). The Secret Happy End, 2008. Murano glass, Saint Just's mirror glass, metal, vintage carriage, Display dims: 106 5/16 x 145 11/16 x 59 1/16 in. (270 x 370 x 150 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris/Miami, and the artist, 2010.11. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image courtesy of Miami Gallery, CUR.2010.11_Miami_Gallery_photo.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, CUR.2010.11_Miami_Gallery_photo.jpg. Image courtesy of Miami Gallery
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
©Jean-Michel Othoniel
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