Cosmic Circles (i)

Cosmic Circles (i)
Inventory
Collection Number: 
17681
Building: 
Current Location: 
B2-Room 318
Floor: 
Lower Level/Vault
Object Description
Artist Dates: 
1918 - 2020
Artist Nationality: 
Hungarian
Accession Date: 
2021
Object Type: 
Details: 
This repousse piece portrays the cosmos in various overlapping curvilinear geometric shapes.
Framed: 
Yes
Length: 
24 inches
Width: 
1 inch
Height: 
48 inches
Description: 

Gabriella Polony Mountain's work includes four major themes. The first three themes are clearly recognizable as the Cosmos, Nature, and Figural works with the fourth theme encompassing history, philosophy, and culture. In her life as an artist, Polony Mountain worked with many different medium including mosaics, weavings, sculpture, stained glass, and repousse. Repousse, or repoussage, is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering the reverse side of a sheet a metal. On the other side, a low relief design is revealed.

Polony Mountain depicted many scenes of the cosmos and this particular variation includes a central set of concentric ovals which overlap with one another. Smaller circles and ovals are placed strategically across the composition to create a formal unity and balance to the central forms.

This screen is but one example of Polony Mountain's skill with the repousse technique and her ability to create movement within an otherwise static material.

Reproduce the Work in Library publications/publicity, including film or videotape: 
Yes
Make slides or videotapes for educational use: 
Yes
Permit the general public to photograph the work : 
Yes