id: 140491 accession number: 1964.4 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1964.4 updated: 2024-03-26 01:59:08.014000 Mandrake, 1951. Theodore Roszak (American, 1907–1981). Steel brazed with copper; overall: 64.7 x 101.6 x 29.8 cm (25 1/2 x 40 x 11 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Cleveland Society for Contemporary Art 1964.4 © Estate of Theodore Roszak / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY title: Mandrake title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1951 creation date earliest: 1951 creation date latest: 1951 current location: creditline: Gift of the Cleveland Society for Contemporary Art copyright: © Estate of Theodore Roszak / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY --- culture: America, New York technique: steel brazed with copper department: American Painting and Sculpture collection: American - Sculpture type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Theodore Roszak (American, 1907–1981) - artist Theodore Roszak American, b. Prussia, 1907-1981 Theodore Roszak was a painter and sculptor whose interest in modern European art and the writings of László Moholy-Nagy led him to experiment with photograms in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Although born in Posen (now Poznan, Poland), Roszak grew up in Chicago. While in high school he took evening classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, enrolling there as a full-time student in 1925. In 1926 he moved to New York City, where he studied briefly with Charles Hawthorne at the National Academy of Design and then privately with painter George Luks. He also attended classes in logic and philosophy at Columbia University. The next year he returned to Chicago, resuming his studies at the Art Institute. In 1929 Roszak was awarded a fellowship which allowed him to travel in Europe for two years; during this time he became acquainted with constructivism and the philosophy of the Bauhaus. He returned to the United States in 1931, settling in New York City. His work of this period reflected the influence of constructivist aesthetics. By the mid-1930s he was primarily producing wall reliefs and freestanding geometric constructions made from plastic and wood. From about 1937-41 Roszak began making photograms (cameraless photographs) as a way to experiment with light and geometric form. He also incorporated photograms into his teaching curriculum at the Design Laboratory, an experimental school inspired by the principles of the Bauhaus and Moholy-Nagy (funded by the government under the wpa), where he taught from 1938–40. During these years he produced hundreds of photograms, which he never exhibited. From 1940-56 Roszak taught at Sarah Lawrence College. During World War II he taught aircraft mechanics and built airplanes at the Brewster Aircraft Corporation in New Jersey. After the war his sculpture, now created out of welded metal, shifted from a concern with geometric shapes to an interest in more organic, expressionistic forms. Roszak continued to be active as a sculptor throughout the 1960s and from 1970–72 taught at Columbia University. The Cleveland Museum of Art also owns two sculptures by Roszak. M.M. --- measurements: Overall: 64.7 x 101.6 x 29.8 cm (25 1/2 x 40 x 11 3/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review (1964) opening date: 1964-12-08T05:00:00 Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1964-January 31, 1965). title: Prints and Drawings, 1916-1965 opening date: 1966-05-20T04:00:00 Prints and Drawings, 1916-1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 20-July 24, 1966). title: Changing Dimensions: Works on Paper by Sculptors opening date: 1995-11-22T05:00:00 Changing Dimensions: Works on Paper by Sculptors. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1995-January 24, 1996). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'CMA 1964: "Year in Review," cat., Bulletin, LI (December 1964), p. 261, listed no. 168', 'opening_date': '1964-12-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Cleveland Museum of Art, 1995-1996: Changing Dimensions: Works on Paper by Sculptors: November 22, 1995-January 24, 1996, no cat.', 'opening_date': '1995-11-22T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS id: 140138 Mandrake, 1951. Theodore Roszak (American, 1907-1981). Pen and brown ink and brown wash; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1964.141 © Estate of Theodore Roszak / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY relationship: --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, “New Accessions Put on Display at Art Museum,” July 9, 1963, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr1209 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 201 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n225 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 201 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n225 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 251 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n271 Cole, Mark, "Bi-polar Order", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 46 no. 03, March 2006 page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 8 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2006-03/page/8 --- IMAGES