Object of the Day

Wendell Castle's "Music Stand"

August 14

Music Stand is one of Wendell Castle’s biomorphic pieces of the 1970s that achieved, in his words, “a sense of delicate balance . . . that [seems] to defy gravity.” The graceful, tapered legs reflect Castle’s belief that the base of a piece is as important as what it supports. Music Stand is an example of the artist’s efforts to create furniture that is “equal to sculpture” and “accepted on the same level as other art forms.”

Music Stand

Luce Center Label
Music Stand is one of Wendell Castle’s biomorphic pieces of the 1970s that achieved, in his words, “a sense of delicate balance . . . that [seems] to defy gravity.” The graceful, tapered legs reflect Castle’s belief that the base of a piece is as important as what it supports. Music Stand is an example of the artist’s efforts to create furniture that is “equal to sculpture” and “accepted on the same level as other art forms.”
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Artist
Wendell Castle, born Emporia, KS 1932-died Scottsville, NY 2018
Date
1975
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase
Medium
walnut
Dimensions
42 1/8 x 26 3/8 x 19 1/4 in. (107.0 x 67.0 x 49.0 cm)
Type
Decorative Arts-Furniture
Crafts