Big Idea: The Maquettes of Robert Arneson

July 10–September 14, 2003

One of the most original sculptors, Robert Arneson (1930–1992) reinvented American figurative ceramics through the integration of sculpture and painting in his large-scale, often satirical, and even iconoclastic pieces.

This was the first exhibition devoted to the terracotta maquettes—small-scale, three dimensional sketches—that Arneson left in his studio. These pieces, generally less than a foot tall, display the vibrantly glazed surfaces that anticipate the expressive coloration of Arneson's signature large ceramic sculptures. Produced over a quarter of a century beginning in 1964, the maquettes offer a unique view into the sculptor's creative process: some illustrate the origins of compositions for monumental works, while others document ideas not realized ultimately in large scale or provide fascinating examples of early sculptural ideas that underwent significant transformation as they emerged as full-scale sculptures in the exhibition chronicle Arneson's evolution as an artist and the development of his freewheeling creativity and prodigious imagination.