Skip to main content

Memorial To A Marriage

Memorial To A Marriage
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Patricia Cronin, born 1963
Sitter
Deborah Kass, born 1952
Patricia Cronin, born 1963
Date
2002 (cast 2013)
Type
Sculpture
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
68.6 × 213.4 × 137.2cm (27 × 84 × 54")
Topic
Self-portrait
Deborah Kass: Female
Deborah Kass: Visual Arts\Artist\Painter
Deborah Kass: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist
Deborah Kass: Arts Award\Rome Prize
Patricia Cronin: Visual Arts\Artist
Patricia Cronin: Female
Patricia Cronin: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist
Patricia Cronin: Arts Award\Rome Prize
Portrait
Place
United States\New York\Kings\New York\Brooklyn
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Chuck Close
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© 2002 Patricial Cronin
Object number
C/NPG.2016.119
Exhibition Label
In 2002, the cross-disciplinary artist Patricia Cronin carved a Carrara marble self-portrait with her then partner, now wife, the pioneering feminist artist Deborah Kass. Conceived in the tradition of nineteenth-century funerary sculptures, Memorial to a Marriage presents two influential feminist artists and life partners in an eternal embrace. As a powerful commentary on gender, sexuality, and marriage, it tells both a transcendent story and one that is historically and culturally significant. The work was made a decade before Cronin and Kass were granted the right to marry in their home state of New York. After creating the original marble sculpture for New York City’s historic Woodlawn Cemetery, Cronin made three bronze casts of the work.
En 2002, la artista interdisciplinaria Patricia Cronin esculpió en mármol de Carrara un autorretrato con su entonces compañera y ahora esposa, Deborah Kass, pionera del arte feminista. Siguiendo la tradición de las esculturas funerarias del siglo XIX, Memorial to a Marriage presenta a estas dos influyentes artistas feministas y compañeras de vida enlazadas en un abrazo eterno. Con un impactante comentario sobre el género, la sexualidad y el matri- monio, la obra narra una historia trascendental, de significado histórico y cultural, ya que fue realizada diez años antes de que Cronin y Kass obtuvieran el derecho de casarse en el estado de Nueva York, donde residían. Después de completar la escultura original de mármol para el histórico Cementerio de Woodlawn, en Nueva York, Cronin hizo tres versiones en bronce.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view