Sculptor and furniture designer Wendell Castle has carved a distinct path over nearly six decades of a distinguished career, and this long-awaited recording of his oeuvre, Wendell Castle: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1958-2012, beautifully delivers. The voluminous accounting, beginning with Castle's earliest, mid-century works through to his unabashed experiments with unconventional materials (gel-coated fiberglass and metallic automobile paint) and his latest signature wood laminations, is comprehensive and detailed. Three essays of varying perspectives introduce the catalogue raisonné and a substantial back matter follows.
Castle is widely collected and has works in the permanent collections of more than 40 museums and cultural institutions around the world, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York); Museum of Modern Art (New York); Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC); Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal (Quebec, Canada); and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London).
Castle has also been the recipient of many honours and awards, including four National Endowment for the Arts grants, three honourary degrees, the American Craft Council Gold Medal, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Contributions by: Jane Adlin