Le Semeur/Sunlight and Flies
1984-2002
Pethick was a bold sculptor whose agglomerations of strange and often scrap materials predict much of what we find in today's contemporary scene. This monumental work refers in its pose to Jean-François Millet's famous painting "Le Semeur" (The Sower) from 1850, and as Pethick was also an early proponent of ecological issues, it is intriguing to see his "recycled" glass bottles as perhaps a talisman for sowing the seeds of environmental awareness.
Glass bottles, silicone, rubber corks, aluminum, surveillance mirror
94 1/2 x 48 x 43 1/4 in. (240 x 121.9 x 109.9 cm)
Purchased with funds from the Parsons Family, Benaroya Glass Art Acquisition Fund and Mark Tobey Estate Fund
2008.65
Provenance: The artist; estate of the artist; [Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver, BC]; purchased by the Seattle Art Museum (funds from Hugh Brady, Port Arena, California; Nancy and Bruce McDonald, Tacoma, WA; Richard Nagler, Piedmont, CA; Geoffrey and LInda Tootell, San Jose, CA; John Day, Medford, OR; George Parsons, Honolulu, HI; Judson Parsons and Diana Gardener, Silverton, OR; Alice Petrich, Federal Way, WA), December 19, 2008
Image courtesy of Catriona Jeffries Gallery
