South Bend, 1907 - 2002
George Rickey was born in South Bend, Indiana in 1907. He began to study in Oxford in 1926, but went to Paris in 1929 where he finished his studies in 1930. In 1945, he made the first mobiles which were inspired by both the history of constructivist art and by the mobiles of Alexander Calder. He designed his works on the basis of the ideas of kinetic sculpture. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Rickey developed systems of motion for his sculpture that responded to the slightest variation in air currents. Unlike Jean Tiguely at his time, all of Rickey's mobiles and kinetic plastics moved without auxiliary engines instead relied on wind energy and gravitation for his works. Over the next three decades he developed sculpture with parts made of...
George Rickey was born in South Bend, Indiana in 1907. He began to study in Oxford in 1926, but went to Paris in 1929 where he finished his studies in 1930. In 1945, he made the first mobiles which were inspired by both the history of constructivist art and by the mobiles of Alexander Calder. He designed his works on the basis of the ideas of kinetic sculpture. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Rickey developed systems of motion for his sculpture that responded to the slightest variation in air currents. Unlike Jean Tiguely at his time, all of Rickey's mobiles and kinetic plastics moved without auxiliary engines instead relied on wind energy and gravitation for his works. Over the next three decades he developed sculpture with parts made of lines, planes, rotors, volumes, and churns, moving in paths that change from simple oscillation to conical gyrations, describing a variety of planes or volumes. Many works during this period have been large-scale public commissions for sites in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Rickey died at home in St. Paul, Minnesota, on 17 July 2002 at the age of 95.
Two Lines Up Excentric Gyratory II
126 x 100 x 100 inches
©George Rickey. Courtesy of Kasmin Gallery.
Two Lines Up Excentric Gyratory II, 1998
20th Century Art / Abstract Sculpture / Abstraction / American Art / Art of the 1990s / Constructivism / Constructivist Sculpture / Contemporary American Art / History/Historical Approach / Kinetic Art / Mobile / Nature / Point / Line / Plane / Sculpture / South Bend / Stainless Steel / United States
Institute of Design, Chicago, Illinois (1948-1949)
Studied etching under Mauricio Lasansky, State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Graduate study in art history, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, New York, NewYork (1945-1946)
George Rickey: Indoor/Outdoor, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York
George Rickey: Important Works from the Estate Marlborough Chelsea, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York
George Rickey: Arc of Development, South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, Indiana (2009-2010)
Levity/Density, Kasmin Gallery, New York, New York
M.A. Modern History, Balliol College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Academie Lhote and Academie Moderne, Paris, France (1929-1930)
B.A. Modern History, Balliol College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford, United Kingdom (1928-1929)
Balliol College, Oxford, United Kingdom (1926-1929)
Trinity College, Glenalmond, Scotland (1921-1926)
A Life in Art: Works by George Rickey, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, Indiana
George Rickey Sculpture: A Retrospective, Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, Florida; traveling to Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (2007-2009)
George Rickey, Marlborough Gallery, London, United Kingdom
George Rickey, in conjunction with group exhibition, "Momentum: Selections from the Kinetic Art Organization", Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey
George Rickey Sculptures, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York
Deux Américains à Paris: Sculptures de George Rickey et Kenneth Snelson, Palais Royal, Paris, France
George Rickey: Retrospective, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York
George Rickey: Kinetische Skulpturen, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
Kinetische Skulpturen 1956-2000, Verlag der Galerie Brockstedt, Hamburg, Germany
George Rickey: A Tribute, University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara
George Rickey: Defining the Fourth Dimension, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York
George Rickey, Gallery Kasahara, Tokyo, Japan
George Rickey: A Retrospective 1958-2000, Soma Gallery, La Jolla, California
Park Avenue Malls Planting Projects, New York, New York, organized by the City of New York Parks & Recreation, installation of Annular Eclips V
Election to Akademie der Künste Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Governor's Award, New York State, Albany, New York
Citation, National Association of Schools of Arts, Washington, D.C.
Creative Arts Award Medal, Brandeis University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Award for Sculpture, Indiana Arts Commission, Indianapolis, Indiana
Elected to the American Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, New York
Commission for sculpture, annually awarded, New York Council on the Arts, New York, New York
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Medal, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, New York, New York
Dillon Visiting Fellow, Gorton School, Warwick, Rhode Island
Fine Arts Award, American Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C.
State Employment Building, Albany, New York
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Grand Valley State College, Allendale, Michigan
Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts
Gerald Ford Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
The Coca Cola Company, Atlanta, Georgia
Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
City of Bellingham, Bellingham, Washington
University Art Museum, Bloomington, Indiana