Color Field Painting - Sculpture - African American Art - Figurative Expressionism
Old Master and Modern Drawings and Prints - Pattern and Decoration
Photography

The Pattern and Decoration (P&D) movement began in the 1970s and Alan Shields and Miriam Schapirowere were important innovators. The museum recently acquired significant examples by both starting an initiative to collect in this area. Two other key P&D works of art from the 1970s were donated to the museum in 2002: a shaped painting by Cynthia Carlson and a flocking-covered fan sculpture by Barbara Zucker. John Scott's highly decorative sculpture, Doorway for the Blues, is an example of kinetic African American P&D. This is an area ripe for reexamination and collecting, which will only be feasible in the new space.

 

Alan Shields (American, born 1944)
The North - South Slope of Mount Bolt Saw, 1993-94
Acrylic, acrylic yarn, wood yarn, cotton, canvas, monofilament, thread, aluminum, 71 3/4 x 72 ½ inches
MSU purchase, funded by the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, 2000.1

 

Miriam Schapiro (American, born 1923)
Costume for Mother Earth, 1995
Monotype and fabric collage, 71 ½ x 51 ½ inches
MSU purchase, funded by Robert D. Spence, 2000.37

 

Barbara Zucker (American, born 1940)
Three, 1978
Sheetmetal, conduit, flocking, 48 x 19 x 14 inches
Gift of the artist, 2002.53.A-C

 

John Scott (American, born 1940)
Doorway for the Blues, 1992
Polychrome steel and aluminum, 92 x 112 x 44 inches
MSU purchase, funded by Selma and Stanley Hollander, 2001.11

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