STORM KING ART CENTER FAST FACTS
LOCATION: New Windsor, New York
HOURS: 10am-4:30pm Wednesday-Monday, Closed on Tuesdays
COST: Complex but ranges from $15-$25 per person
TIME TO COMPLETE: 2-5 hours
ACCOMODATIONS: Large parking lot, public restrooms, restaurant and Museum Store
Modern art can be difficult to embrace sometimes. It can go too far, a pile of dirt on the ground symbolizing waste (it’s really just a pile of dirt on the ground) or a red circle that critics praise as groundbreaking in its simplicity (no kidding). But, as with any creative expression, modern art can also be brilliant. For me, sculpting has some ideal examples.
My father is a talented amateur sculptor who has created some fascinating pieces over the years. He also is a big fan of Mark di Suvero, the Italian (though born in Shanghai) abstract expressionist and 2010 National Medal of Arts recipient. Di Suvero works with scrap metal and creates large outdoor pieces that have been displayed all over the world from the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His art is what brought us to the Storm King Art Center, a 500-acre outdoor museum located in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Since 1960, Storm King has displayed hundreds of outdoor works from such notable sculptors as Alexander Calder, Zhang Huan and David Smith. Choosing only (10) pieces from the vast collection was difficult but also fulfilling. I decided to limit it to what I feel is the best work on display from nine different artists (Calder’s my favorite so he gets two). In this way you can see a wide variety of styles and approaches.
Jump to a specific place.
- Alexander Calder (Five Swords)
- David Smith (Portrait of a Lady Painter)
- Joel Shapiro (Untitled)
- Alexander Liberman (Iliad)
- Zhang Huan (Three Legged Buddha)
- Barbara Hepworth (Square Forms with Circles)
- Manashe Kadishman (Suspended)
- Mark di Suvero (Neruda’s Gate)
- Alexander Calder (Black Flag)
- Chakaia Booker (A Moment in Time)
Alexander Calder
American, 1898–1976
Five Swords (1976)
Sheet metal, bolts, and paint
Dimensions: 17'9" x 22' x 29' (541 x 670.6 x 883.9 cm)
David Smith
American, 1906–1965
Portrait of a Lady Painter (1954/1956–57)
Bronze
Dimensions: 64" x 59" x 12" (162.6 x 151.8 x 31.8 cm)
Joel Shapiro
American, b. 1941
Untitled (1994)
Bronze
Dimensions: 21' x 19' x 14' (640.1 x 579.1 x 426.7 cm)
Alexander Liberman
American, (b. Russia) 1912–1999
Iliad (1974-76)
Painted Steel
Dimensions: 36' x 55' x 20' (11 m x 17 m x 597 cm)
Zhang Huan
Chinese, b. 1965
Three Legged Buddha (2007)
Steel and Copper
Dimensions: 28' x 42' x 22' (860 cm x 13 m x 690 cm)
Barbara Hepworth
British, 1903–1975
Square Forms with Circles (1963)
Bronze
Dimensions: 8.5' x 5' x 28" (259 x 147 x 71 cm)
Menashe Kadishman
Israeli, 1932–2015
Suspended (1977)
Weathering steel
Dimensions: 23' x 33' x 4' (701 cm x 10 m x 122 cm)
Mark di Suvero
American, b. China, 1933
Neruda's Gate (2005)
Steel
Dimensions: 27' x 25' x 8' (817 x 762 x 244 cm)
Alexander Calder
American, 1898–1976
Black Flag (1974)
Sheet metal, bolts, and paint
Dimensions: 23' x 20' x 17' (714 x 602 x 523 cm)
Chakaia Booker
American, b. 1953
A Moment in Time (2004)
Rubber tires, stainless steel, and steel
Dimensions: 10' x 9' x 10' (305 x 277 x 310 cm)
We hope you enjoyed these pieces. Do you have any views on modern art? Any favorites (or none). We’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
