Three Scenes from Real Life

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Currently not on view

Three Scenes from Real Life

1977

Bruce Metcalf (American, born 1949)

The Surrealist and Dada movements—radical approaches to art that developed during and after World War I and celebrated chance, spontaneity, and the unconscious—influenced Bruce Metcalf in the formative years of the 1970s. Three Scenes from Real Life is an example of Metcalf’s sculptural constructions with surreal subject matter.

An ambiguous narrative, the piece was created during a time of depression for the artist and conjures images of birth, floating at sea, and being “washed up.” Metcalf’s aim was to craft private struggles into public discourse, allowing viewers to empathize with the somber sentiments of the work before them.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Three Scenes from Real Life

Date:

1977

Artist:

Bruce Metcalf (American, born 1949)

Medium:

Acrylic, silver, copper, gold

Dimensions:

6 x 21 15/16 x 7 inches (15.2 x 55.7 x 17.8 cm)

Classification:

Sculpture

Credit Line:

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Ingersoll, 1982

Accession Number:

1982-123-1a--d

Geography:

Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view

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