Guest Blogger: Mark Brown, Curator of Education

Arthur Silverman Sculpture Returns to Lauren Rogers Museum of Art

On Friday, June 22, Corten Duo III, a sculpture by Arthur Silverman, was returned to the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. The large metal outdoor sculpture, which was on display at Sawmill Square Mall for more than two decades, was installed on a newly prepared concrete pad on the front lawn of the Museum.

Although originally from New York, Silverman has been a New Orleans resident for more than 25 years. Before creating sculpture, Silverman was a practicing physician. Soon, sculpture became much more than a hobby, causing Silverman to give up his medical practice. Fourteen large-scale public commissions can be seen in the New Orleans area alone, including universities, commercial and government buildings. Silverman has exhibited his pieces nationally and is included in such important collections as the John Rosenkrans Collection, Woodside, CA, the Fisher Family Collection, San Francisco, CA, the Philip Johnson Building in Washington D.C., the New Orleans Museum of Art, and of course, the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art here in Laurel.

Corten Duo III, typical of Silverman’s work, is a freestanding geometric metal sculpture composed of his signature tetrahedrons. A tetrahedron consists of four flat triangles, much like a cube consists of six flat squares. In Silverman’s judgement, the tetrahedron, being somewhat non-traditional, when stacked, sectioned and joined, allows for a great variety of forms. Much of his work is associated with that of the Minimalists, which is characterized by obvious mathematical and geometric relationships, ultimately limiting emotional responses. However, Silverman states "my sculpture is inspired, but not constrained to mathematics, specifically geometry. For more than 20 years I’ve been investigating tetrahedral ideas for sculpture. My primary interest is in large-scale outdoor work. I like the idea that the public and the site are very important considerations."