Mahout's Seat

Edward Renouf

1906–1999

Mahout's Seat, 1960

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: casting; steel; welding; paint

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 45.72 x 35.56 x 20.32 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 18 x 14 x 8 in

Credit line: The Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, a joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art, with generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services

Accession number: 2009.0072

Not on display

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Exhibition Label: "NetWorks: Art and Artists from the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection," Mar-2011, Susan Earle, Stephen Goddard, and SMA Interns Edward Renouf was brought to the Vogel's attention by his daughter, Edda Renouf, whose work is also exhibited here. Edward Renouf's work betrays a focus on manual processes and the use of black as a unifying color. Mahout’s Seat is an assemblage; a combination of found mechanical parts, each of which had a distinct purpose that have been combined, welded together, and painted. His untitled acrylic painting was made on a canvas that was first grounded in black and then painted on in white. However, the latter seems to be more than a straightforward painting. While we don’t know the methods used, it feels as if the whites were “printed” or stamped from some other form such as crinkled paper or foil. Both methods suggest sensitivity to the possibilities of finding forms within chance operations.