(South Bend/Indiana 1907–2002 East Chatham/New York)
Two Lines Horizontal Extended Bronze, 1988, signed, dated Rickey 1988 on the plinth, bronze, plumb on black marble base (2.2 x 6.4 x 6.4 cm), 33 x 89 x 4.5 cm, unique piece

We are very grateful to the George Rickey Foundation/The Estate of George Rickey for the kind assistance.

Provenance:
Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts Los Angeles
Private Collection
Christie’s London, 27.5.1997, Lot 120
acquired there by the present owner
Private Collection, Germany

Exhibited:
Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, Works in Bronze, fall 1988

George Rickey’s ‘Two Lines Horizontal Extended Bronze’ is a kinetic sculpture moved by the flow of air and wind, or by touch.
The two arms, like wings, swing in a lively interplay with each other, rotating both in the same and in opposite directions. The front parts are of diverging weights and are suspended in a construction that allows for free oscillation of the individual parts.
„Overall, the sculpture is a kind of technical instrument, which undoubtedly presupposes engineering and mathematical skills on the part of the artist. It is precisely its technicity – which the artist himself emphasizes time and again – that constitutes a significant characteristic of this kinetic sculpture and distinguishes it from the older wind mobiles of Alexander Calder. Rickey has surpassed these through a much more versatile use of the potential for movement, which in turn necessitates complex, technical calculations. And while Calder’s kinetic sculptures mostly consist of vegetal shapes, Rickey’s design is informed by constructivism; one has to recognize the connection between the more rigid design and the greater versatility of movement, since, the simpler the shapes, the more their movement, or to quote Rickey himself, their ‘choreography’, becomes key for the contemplation of the art work – as in the paintings of Cézanne, the simpler and more uniform the shapes of the colours, the more the colours gain in centrality.“
Max Imdahl, George Warren Rickey in: Erläuterungen zur Modernen Kunst, ed. by Norbert Kunisch, Bochum 1990, pp. 217–220, here p. 217

Undoubtedly, the figure in its oscillation evokes a dance-like moment of weightless lightness. The sculpture invites one to linger in front of it, to watch the dance of the two elements, to lose oneself in a meditative contemplation of their playful interaction. It is up to the viewer to embrace it.

We are very grateful to the George Rickey Foundation/The Estate of George Rickey for the kind assistance.

Provenance:
Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts Los Angeles
Private Collection
Christie’s London, 27.5.1997, Lot 120
acquired there by from the present owner
Private Collection, Germany

Exhibited:
Carl Schlosberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, Works in Bronze, fall 1988

George Rickey’s ‘Two Lines Horizontal Extended Bronze’ is a kinetic sculpture moved by the flow of air and wind, or by touch.
The two arms, like wings, swing in a lively interplay with each other, rotating both in the same and in opposite directions. The front parts are of diverging weights and are suspended in a construction that allows for free oscillation of the individual parts.
„Overall, the sculpture is a kind of technical instrument, which undoubtedly presupposes engineering and mathematical skills on the part of the artist. It is precisely its technicity – which the artist himself emphasizes time and again – that constitutes a significant characteristic of this kinetic sculpture and distinguishes it from the older wind mobiles of Alexander Calder. Rickey has surpassed these through a much more versatile use of the potential for movement, which in turn necessitates complex, technical calculations. And while Calder’s kinetic sculptures mostly consist of vegetal shapes, Rickey’s design is informed by constructivism; one has to recognize the connection between the more rigid design and the greater versatility of movement, since, the simpler the shapes, the more their movement, or to quote Rickey himself, their ‘choreography’, becomes key for the contemplation of the art work – as in the paintings of Cézanne, the simpler and more uniform the shapes of the colours, the more the colours gain in centrality.“
Max Imdahl, George Warren Rickey in: Erläuterungen zur Modernen Kunst, ed. by Norbert Kunisch, Bochum 1990, pp. 217–220, here p. 217

Undoubtedly, the figure in its oscillation evokes a dance-like moment of weightless lightness. The sculpture invites one to linger in front of it, to watch the dance of the two elements, to lose oneself in a meditative contemplation of their playful interaction. It is up to the viewer to embrace it.