Nasal Flat, Robert Carston Arneson (United States, 1930-1992), 1981, pottery and glaze, 87 3/8 × 36 × 20 in. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph D. Shein
A seven-foot-tall pottery and glaze sculpture depicting a bearded head atop a simple black pedestal. The head is that of an older man with medium-light skin tone, pock marks on his cheeks, and deep wrinkles on his high forehead and at the corners of his eyes. The awkward sneer, or grimace, on the subject’s lips, and the utterly smooth, flat tip of his squished, bulbous nose, evoke a face pressed against a window or pane of glass. His beard and mustache are grey, as is the wavy hair at the sides of his balding head. His skin, hair, and beard are flecked with specks of blue and red like the surface of a jawbreaker candy. The pedestal is mat black in color, and slightly taller than the head it supports. Shaped like a stocky round pillar, it features the title ‘Nasal Flat’ carved into the bottom ring in serifed all caps.
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