Untitled
Folk and Self-Taught Art

Untitled
Artwork Details
Artist/Maker
Unidentified Artist
Date
late 19th century
Medium
Wood, metal, and paint
Accession #
2016.168
Dimensions
18 × 24 × 12 inches
Location
On View - Stent Family Wing, Skyway, Gallery 404
Description
Artists and craftsmen have made whirligigs—playful kinetic sculptures fastened to outdoor posts—for centuries, often using leftover scraps of wood. The wind easily would have caught the paddle arms of the figure in this example, resulting in a fast whipping motion. This piece was once in the collection of Leo Rabkin, an abstract painter who recognized the parallels between the pared-down forms of folk art and the ideas of the abstract painters he worked alongside at mid-century.