Heart of Gold (Dressing Table)
Artist
James Drake
(American, born 1946)
Date1989
MediumSteel, charcoal on paper, cast bronze, gold leaf
Dimensions(a): 32 3/8 x 50 5/8 x 1 9/16 in. (82.2 x 128.6 x 4 cm)
(b): 29 5/8 x 33 7/8 x 17 in. (75.2 x 86 x 43.2 cm)
(c): 8 1/4 x 8 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (21 x 22.2 x 21.6 cm)
(d): 13 9/16 x 1 5/8 x 5/8 in. (34.4 x 4.1 x 1.6 cm)
(e): 13 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 9/16 in. (34.9 x 4.8 x 1.4 cm)
(f): 13 5/8 x 1 5/8 x 5/8 in. (34.6 x 4.1 x 1.6 cm)
(g): 13 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 5/8 in. (34.3 x 5.7 x 1.6 cm)
(h): 13 1/2 x 2 7/16 x 9/16 in. (34.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 cm)
(i): 13 1/2 x 2 3/16 x 9/16 in. (34.3 x 5.6 x 1.4 cm)
(j): 13 9/16 x 2 5/8 x 9/16 in. (34.4 x 6.7 x 1.4 cm)
(k): 13 7/16 x 2 7/16 x 9/16 in. (34.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 cm)
(l): 13 7/8 x 2 x 9/16 in. (35.2 x 5.1 x 1.4 cm)
(b): 29 5/8 x 33 7/8 x 17 in. (75.2 x 86 x 43.2 cm)
(c): 8 1/4 x 8 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (21 x 22.2 x 21.6 cm)
(d): 13 9/16 x 1 5/8 x 5/8 in. (34.4 x 4.1 x 1.6 cm)
(e): 13 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 9/16 in. (34.9 x 4.8 x 1.4 cm)
(f): 13 5/8 x 1 5/8 x 5/8 in. (34.6 x 4.1 x 1.6 cm)
(g): 13 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 5/8 in. (34.3 x 5.7 x 1.6 cm)
(h): 13 1/2 x 2 7/16 x 9/16 in. (34.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 cm)
(i): 13 1/2 x 2 3/16 x 9/16 in. (34.3 x 5.6 x 1.4 cm)
(j): 13 9/16 x 2 5/8 x 9/16 in. (34.4 x 6.7 x 1.4 cm)
(k): 13 7/16 x 2 7/16 x 9/16 in. (34.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 cm)
(l): 13 7/8 x 2 x 9/16 in. (35.2 x 5.1 x 1.4 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from Jeanne and Michael L. Klein and the Herzstein Family Acquisition Endowment Fund, 2013
Object number2013.34a-l
DescriptionOn a steel table rests a bronze-cast ball of yarn. Above the table is a gold-leafed, baroque-style steel frame that surround a black charcoal color-field drawing. An arc of 9 steel knives , some with gold leaf, and all with words in steel on one or both sides, encircles the frame.eMuseum Notes
Vanity has long been one of James Drake’s recurrent themes, often manifested as a vanity table or a mirror. Heart of Gold is one of several vanity tables Drake has made in his career. He used the vanity table as a symbol of the human inability to see ourselves, both individually and collectively. His use of the blackened or empty mirror or frame speaks to this blindness and loss. The frame is based on a frame from his mother’s home, so it references a familiar domestic object from his own past. The bronze ball of yarn is a cast from Mayatex, his family’s company that made saddle blankets. In an arched configuration over the mirror is a series of daggers screwed into the wall, each with words or sayings such as “forgive me,” “an idle mind,” or “one mile, one inch.” Drake’s visual language characteristically balances the classical or the baroque with the contemporary. Heart of Gold contrasts an ostentatious neo-baroque mirror with the rawness and unembellished lines of a welded steel table, creating a dialogue between past and present, ornament and simplicity.
On View
Not on view
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