Lassaw‘s commitment to an open-ended art, begun without a predetermined image, links him to the Abstract Expressionists. Monoceros, Greek for "unicorn," is the name of a small constellation of stars. This work belongs to a series whose names all come from the night sky.
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[Kootz Gallery, New York, 1952–53; sold on October 21, 1953 to Steinberg]; Muriel Kallis Steinberg, Chicago (1953–2006; her gift to MMA)
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Sculpture of the Twentieth Century," October 11–December 7, 1952, no. 53.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Sculpture of the Twentieth Century," January 22–March 8, 1953, no. 53.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Sculpture of the Twentieth Century," April 28–September 7, 1953, no. 53.
University of Chicago, Bergman Gallery. "Avant-Garde Chicago: Exhibit of Contemporary Art from Chicago Collectors," opened November 11, 1968, unnumbered cat.
University of Santa Barbara Art Galleries. "7+5 Sculptors in the 1950's," January 6–February 15, 1976, unnumbered cat. (p. 62).
Phoenix Art Museum. "7+5 Sculptors in the 1950's," March 15–April 11, 1976, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "An American Choice: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection," May 21–September 27, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 75).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 17, 2007–February 3, 2008, extended to March 2, 2008, no. 44.
Thomas B. Hess. "Many-Sided Look at Modern Sculpture." Art News 51 (October 1952), ill. p. 17 (detail).
Eleanor Munro. "Explorations in Form: A View of Some Recent American Sculpture." Perspectives U.S.A. no. 16 (Spring 1956), p. 170, fig. 18.
American Abstract Artists, ed. The World of Abstract Art. New York, 1957, ill. p. 99.
Sidney Geist. "Abstract Art Today." Arts 31 (September 1957), ill. p.29.
Sam Hunter. Modern American Painting and Sculpture. New York, 1959, pl. 36.
Arthur F. Jones inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 139–42, no. 44, ill. (color).
Ibram Lassaw (American (born Egypt), Alexandria 1913–2003 East Hampton, New York)
1937
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