Pool with Splash

1977

American, 1930-1992

Arneson drew on a wide range of historic and contemporary sources for his critical evaluation of artistic themes and genres. Pool with Splash is a case in point. It references an iconic Los Angeles subjet examined in Ed Ruscha's 1968 artist book, Nine Swimming Pools and Glass, but also David Hockney's paintings of California homes and pools (some with splash). The choice of working with glazed ceramics as a sculptural material on a large scale became Arneson's own comment on "high art"- an art world insider using what would have been considered and "outsider" material. This opened not only a host of createive opportunities to the artist but it allowed him to rebel and critique the stictures of Mordernist frameworks, and with it, the heirarchical distinction between art and craft. Newly restored, this key work is on display here for the first time since 1985.

Ceramic with glaze

18 1/2 x 145 x 116 in. (47 x 368.3 x 294.6 cm)

Gift of Manuel Neri

82.156

Photo: Nathaniel Willson

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Wash., Seattle Art Museum, American Sculpture: Three Decades, Nov. 15, 1984-Jan. 27, 1985. Cover.

Seattle, Wash., Seattle Art Museum, Arneson and Colescott, Mar. 8- Aug. 10, 2014.

Published ReferencesClark, Gareth. A Century of Ceramics In The United States: 1878-1978. New York: E.P. Dutton, in association with the Everson Museum of Art, 1979. No. 258, p. 271, reproduced p. 22.

University Fine Arts Gallery, Florida State University, Tallahassee, "California Clay", 1979, ill.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM