Abstract Variation No. 3
By Ernest Trova
Category: Sculpture
About
The Abstract Variation (A/V) series of sculptures are made in Cor-ten steel and are often painted, mostly in primary colors such as blue, black, red, and yellow. They range in size from modest, shelter-like forms to monumental, barricade-like pieces, all with the overall effect of jumbled elements resting against one another. The individual forms that make up the works in the Abstract Variation series are of surprisingly limited type: cut-out strips, triangles, and rectangles with only the occasional use of curves. These haphazard forms pose the paradox of a world of stable disorder.
Dimensions: 11′ x 8′ x 7′
Year Completed: 1976
Material: Painted Cor-ten steel
Donor: Gift of the artist
About the artist:
Ernest Trova
1927-2009
Missouri native Ernest Trova was a self-trained surrealist, pop art painter, and sculptor, and is best known for his “Falling Man” sculpture series. At age 20, he exhibited Roman Boy, his first major painting, and was awarded first prize in the St. Louis Art Museum’s Missouri Exhibition. Several of his other early art pieces were acquired by both the Guggenheim and the Modern Museum of Art in New York City, and the Tate museum in London. Trova has always insisted on consistency of content in his work, along with persistency of application and personal addiction for getting work done. He considered his entire output a single “work in progress.” In 1976, Trova generously donated 40 pieces to the Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis, putting it on the map as a popular tourist attraction.
