de Saisset Acquires Beasley Sculpture in the Fall
de Saisset Museum to add Rondo I to its permanent collection
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 20, 2016—This fall, the de Saisset Museum welcomes a new sculpture by contemporary Oakland-based artist Bruce Beasley into the museum’s permanent collection.
Rondo I will join the museum’s quickly growing public sculpture program and is slated for a site adjacent to the museum’s front entrance. This addition is part of the University’s vision to develop a prominent and robust public art collection for the enjoyment of the campus and wider community.
“In its role as a cultural institution and resource for the community, the de Saisset aims to make connections between disciplines and across cultures and experiences,” said Rebecca Schapp, director of the de Saisset museum. “Bringing large scale sculptural works such as Beasley’s Rondo I to a museum for exhibition is a great opportunity alone, but to be able to accept these works into a permanent collection provides lasting impact on the campus and larger community.”
Bruce Beasley is one of the most eminent sculptors working in the Bay Area whose work has national and international resonance through exhibitions, books, articles, and interviews. In 1962, the New York Museum of Modern Art acquired a piece by Beasley, making him the youngest artist to have work enter their collection. The following year, he received the Purchase Prize at the Biennale de Paris.
Rondo I comes to the de Saisset directly from its temporary loan to the City of Palo Alto where it was installed for one year in King Plaza in front of City Hall through Palo Alto’s Public Art Program. Rondo I was a partial donation by the artist and purchase by the de Saisset Museum.
Rondo I is part of a series of sculptures produced over 10 years. Beasley’s goal was that these sculptures contrast with their outdoor surroundings only slightly, making the overall environment more welcoming. Every detail of the Rondo pieces keeps this goal in mind. From Beasley’s use of polished stainless steel, which reflects the sun and moonlight, to his choice of curved lines, which ensures that at every angle of light the pieces will be equally as reflective.
This fall, Beasley will also have an exhibition on view at the de Saisset Museum from September 30 through December 4 that features pieces realized by computer-aided designs and 3D printers, and fabricated from resin, bronze, and stainless steel. Coriolis and Torqueri: Bruce Beasley Recent Work is guest curated by Hilarie Faberman. This is the first exhibition of Beasley’s revolutionary new sculptures in an American museum. The exhibition includes a fully illustrated catalogue with an essay on the Coriolis and Torqueri series.
There will be a public reception for the exhibition on September 29, 2016 from 7-8:30 p.m. with a preview hour with the artist for de Saisset Museum Members from 6-7 p.m.
About the de Saisset Museum
The de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University is the South Bay’s free museum of art and history. The museum was founded adjacent to the Mission Santa Clara de Asís on the Santa Clara University campus in 1955 and is one of only three museums in the South Bay accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The de Saisset Museum supports Santa Clara University’s goal of educating the whole person through a diverse and accessible range of exhibitions, collections, and educational programs that highlight the art and history of the San Francisco Bay Area. As a center for lifelong learning, the de Saisset facilitates discovery, experience, and inspiration through engaging objects of art and history.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,800 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
Media Contact: Tina Vossugh| tvossugh@scu.edu | (408) 829-4836