Ruth Asawa, c. 1952.  Photograph by Imogen Cunningham
Ruth Asawa, c. 1952.  Photograph by Imogen Cunningham

Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible

Organized by Helen Molesworth

David Zwirner is pleased to present Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible at the gallery’s 537 West 20th Street location in New York. Organized by Helen Molesworth, this exhibition aims to situate Asawa’s (1926–2013) iconic looped- and tied-wire sculptures in the context of her extraordinary drawings and her lesser known sculptural forms, offering viewers one of the most comprehensive looks at this artist’s work to date. This larger context illuminates an artist in pursuit of form as a means to reshape how we see and perceive the world as well as offering a model for thinking about the avant-garde’s long-held desire to place art and life in a permanently dynamic conversation.

 

The Estate of Ruth Asawa has been represented by David Zwirner since 2017. The gallery’s inaugural solo exhibition of the artist’s work took place the same year in New York. In 2020, the gallery’s London location presented Ruth Asawa: A Line Can Go Anywhere, which was the first major presentation of the artist’s work outside of the United States. In 2022, Ruth Asawa: Citizen of the Universe will open at Modern Art Oxford, England, and will subsequently travel to the Stavanger Kunstmuseum, Norway.

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Image: Ruth Asawa, c. 1951 (detail). Photograph © Imogen Cunningham Trust. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Dates
November 4December 18, 2021
Curators
Helen Molesworth

“The life of the artist-scientist-explorer … is truly the only life worth living. You give me courage—just the word ‘Ruth’ gives me an ‘all is possible’ feeling.”

—Albert Lanier, Asawa’s future husband, in a letter to the artist in 1948

Ruth Asawa, Doors (S.528, Carved Redwood Doors for Asawa-Lanier Home in San Francisco, CA), 1961. Photo by Xavier Lanier.

Ruth Asawa, Doors (S.528, Carved Redwood Doors for Asawa-Lanier Home in San Francisco, CA), 1961. Photo by Xavier Lanier. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Ruth Asawa, Doors (S.528, Carved Redwood Doors for Asawa-Lanier Home in San Francisco, CA), 1961. Photo by Xavier Lanier. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

 Letter to Ruth Asawa from Albert Lanier, November 22, 1948.

Letter to Ruth Asawa from Albert Lanier, November 22, 1948. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Letter to Ruth Asawa from Albert Lanier, November 22, 1948. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Asawa and her husband Albert Lanier outside the front door of their Noe Valley, San Francisco home in 1984.

Ruth Asawa and her husband, Albert Lanier, outside the front door of their Noe Valley, San Francisco, home, 1984. Photo © Estate Phiz Mezey. Courtesy Phiz Mezey Trust. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Ruth Asawa and her husband, Albert Lanier, outside the front door of their Noe Valley, San Francisco, home, 1984. Photo © Estate Phiz Mezey. Courtesy Phiz Mezey Trust. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Ruth Asawa’s art and life were deeply intertwined—even her San Francisco home opened with a pair of enormous redwood doors she hand-carved with her children over the summer of 1961. The doors’ intricate, wavelike “meander” pattern recalls the works on paper Asawa made as a student of Josef Albers at Black Mountain College.

Ruth Asawa, Untitled (BMC.58, Meander – Curved Lines), c. 1948 (detail)

Ruth Asawa, Untitled (BMC.58, Meander – Curved Lines), c. 1948 (detail). Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Ruth Asawa, Untitled (BMC.58, Meander – Curved Lines), c. 1948 (detail). Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

“Ruth Asawa is best known for her hanging lobed sculptures and her abstract drawings of meanders made under the influence of Josef Albers at Black Mountain College. Less known are her representational drawings of her beloved family, her ceramic face masks of her rich community in San Francisco, and her near-daily drawings of the plants and flowers from her ample garden.

Many of these works have never been shown publicly and this exhibition aims to recast Asawa as an artist as interested in representation as she was in abstraction, as compelled by the drawn line as the sculptural form, an artist perpetually curious about the intimate relationship between what the eye sees and what the hand can produce.”

—Helen Molesworth, curator and writer

 
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (LC.012, Wall of Masks), c. 1966–2000 (detail), and Untitled (S.540), 1950s. Photo by Laurence Cuneo.

Ruth Asawa, Untitled (LC.012, Wall of Masks), c. 1966–2000 (detail), and Untitled (S.540), 1950s. Photo by Laurence Cuneo. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy David Zwirner

Ruth Asawa, Untitled (LC.012, Wall of Masks), c. 1966–2000 (detail), and Untitled (S.540), 1950s. Photo by Laurence Cuneo. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy David Zwirner

Ruth Asawa casting a child’s face, c. 1970. Photo by Allen Nomura

Ruth Asawa casting a child’s face, c. 1970. Photo by Allen Nomura. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Ruth Asawa casting a child’s face, c. 1970. Photo by Allen Nomura. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Ruth Asawa with life masks on the exterior wall of her house. Photo credit: Terry Schmitt / Estate of Ruth Asawa

Ruth Asawa with life masks on the exterior wall of her house. Photo © Terry Schmitt. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy David Zwirner

Ruth Asawa with life masks on the exterior wall of her house. Photo © Terry Schmitt. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy David Zwirner

Asawa cast the faces of hundreds of people within her community and kept a twenty-five-pound bag of plaster of Paris in her kitchen for this purpose.

A blueprint artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (MI.170, Blueprint of BMC Meander (BMC.73)), n.d.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (MI.170, Blueprint of BMC Meander (BMC.73)), n.d.
Blueprint
22 x 16 1/2 inches (55.9 x 41.9 cm)
Framed: 27 3/4 x 22 1/8 inches (70.5 x 56.2 cm)

“Asawa’s aesthetic philosophy reflects a synthesis of her personal and professional histories, which, like the meander design, were in many ways intertwined.”

—Tamara H. Schenkenberg, curator, Pulitzer Arts Foundation

 
An oil on paper on board by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (BMC.129, In and Out), circa 1948 to 1949.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (BMC.129, In and Out), c.1948-1949
Oil on paper on board
7 x 19 inches (17.8 x 48.3 cm)
Framed: 12 x 24 inches (30.5 x 61 cm)

Asawa’s undulating “meander” pattern, created with a spiraling line, suggests a field of fluctuating positive and negative forms akin to the interplay of inside and outside that the artist would later conjure in her “continuous” looped-wire sculptures.

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view of the exhibition,  Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view of the exhibition,  Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view of the exhibition,  Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view of the exhibition,  Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

Installation view, Ruth Asawa: All Is Possible, David Zwirner, New York, 2021

“I was interested in [wire] because of the economy of a line, making something in space, enclosing it without blocking it out. It’s still transparent. I realized that if I was going to make these forms, which interlock and interweave, it can only be done with a line because a line can go anywhere.”

—Ruth Asawa

 
A hanging sculpture—enameled copper and brass wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.237, Hanging Six-Lobed, Interlocking Continuous Form), circa 1958.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.237, Hanging Six-Lobed, Interlocking Continuous Form), c. 1958
Hanging sculpture—enameled copper and brass wire
72 x 15 x 15 inches (182.9 x 38.1 x 38.1 cm)

Asawa’s impact on her community was profound. The communal living that she knew from her childhood on a farm and her experiences at Black Mountain College made Asawa value and acknowledge community involvement as an important aspect of her public art. 

Her six-lobed continuous form Untitled (S.237) (c. 1958) was originally owned by Mae Lee, Asawa’s friend, neighbor, and sometimes assistant who helped her with a number of her public commissions, working alongside Asawa’s family and community volunteers.

Asawa with daughter Aiko and assistant Mae Lum Lee at Andrea, her fountain in Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco, dated 1968

Ruth Asawa with daughter Aiko and assistant Mae Lee at Andrea, her fountain in Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco, 1968. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Ruth Asawa with daughter Aiko and assistant Mae Lee at Andrea, her fountain in Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco, 1968. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

A hanging sculpture—brass wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.169, Hanging Single-Lobed, Three-Layer Continuous Form within a Form), circa 1958.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.169, Hanging Single-Lobed, Three-Layer Continuous Form within a Form), c. 1958
Hanging sculpture—brass wire
12 x 17 x 17 inches (30.5 x 43.2 x 43.2 cm)
Living room of the Asawa-Lanier home, 1995. Photo © Laurence Cuneo.

The rafters of Ruth Asawa’s home were filled with her wire sculptures and the artist would sit beneath them as she worked. Living room of the Asawa-Lanier home, 1995. Photo © Laurence Cuneo. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy David Zwirner

The rafters of Ruth Asawa’s home were filled with her wire sculptures and the artist would sit beneath them as she worked. Living room of the Asawa-Lanier home, 1995. Photo © Laurence Cuneo. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy David Zwirner

“Her creative genius endowed her with the ability to repurpose whatever she has experienced. In her original synthesis of form, process, and transparency, Asawa has created a diverse body of work that challenges the historical definition of sculpture. Whatever threatened to block her progress instead helped her to become an artist without peer.”

—John Yau, poet and art critic

A hanging sculpture—sterling silver wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.633(a-c), Trio of Hanging Reversible, Open-Window Form Sculptures), circa 1956.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.633(a-c), Trio of Hanging Reversible, Open-Window Form Sculptures), c. 1956
Hanging sculpture—sterling silver wire
Set of three (3) sculptures
Sculpture A: 28 x 7 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches (71.1 x 18.4 x 18.4 cm)
Sculpture B: 21 x 6 x 6 inches (53.3 x 15.2 x 15.2 cm)
Sculpture C: 15 1/2 x 6 1/4 x 6 inches (39.4 x 15.9 x 15.2 cm)

“Because I had the children, I chose to have my studio in my home. I wanted them to understand my work and learn how to work.”

—Ruth Asawa

 
Xavier Lanier crouching in front of a hanging Ruth Asawa sculpture, 1953

Xavier Lanier crouching in front of Untitled (S.283), 1953. Photo © Imogen Cunningham Trust. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Xavier Lanier crouching in front of Untitled (S.283), 1953. Photo © Imogen Cunningham Trust. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

A hanging sculpture—galvanized steel, enameled copper, and brass wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.055, Hanging Asymmetrical Nine Interlocking Bubbles), circa 1955.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.055, Hanging Asymmetrical Nine Interlocking Bubbles), c. 1955
Hanging sculpture—galvanized steel, enameled copper, and brass wire
30 x 25 x 16 inches (76.2 x 63.5 x 40.6 cm)

“We always saw her making art, it was part of her everyday existence. I never thought of her making art as a separate activity. To us, she wasn’t working. We didn’t have to be quiet so she could concentrate. Her art-making space was always in our house.”

—Aiko Cuneo, Asawa’s daughter

 
A hanging sculpture—brass wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.302, Hanging Two-Section, Open-Window Form), circa 1954.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.302, Hanging Two-Section, Open-Window Form), c. 1954
Hanging sculpture—brass wire
71 x 15 x 15 inches (180.3 x 38.1 x 38.1 cm)

Asawa often made her looped-wire sculptures while sitting at her kitchen table or looking after her children. Her home in San Francisco’s Noe Valley had an eighteen-foot vaulted ceiling where looped- and tied-wire sculptures hung from the rafters.

Ruth Asawa and her children at home on Saturn Street, San Francisco, 1957.

Ruth Asawa and her children at home on Saturn Street, San Francisco, 1957. Photograph © Imogen Cunningham Trust. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Ruth Asawa and her children at home on Saturn Street, San Francisco, 1957. Photograph © Imogen Cunningham Trust. Artwork © 2021 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

A pen and black ink and graphite pencil on paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Addie L. Lanier (FF.033, Addie Laurie Lanier Sleeping Underneath a Large Quilt), circa 1962 to 1963.

Ruth Asawa

Addie L. Lanier (FF.033, Addie Laurie Lanier Sleeping Underneath a Large Quilt), c. 1962 - 1963
Pen and black ink and graphite pencil on paper
13 3/4 x 17 inches (34.9 x 43.2 cm)
Framed: 18 3/4 x 21 7/8 inches (47.6 x 53.3 cm)

Asawa had a near-constant devotion to creative pursuits and a distinct way of seeing the world around her, evidenced by her lesser-known drawings of the minutiae of everyday life. Her portrayals of sleeping children, garden plants, and cane and wicker chairs—as well as the ceramic masks of her friends and many visitors to her home—provide an intimate glimpse into the day to day.

A graphite pencil on paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (FF.1114, Albert Lanier Sleeping), dated 1970.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (FF.1114, Albert Lanier Sleeping), 1970
Graphite pencil on paper
8 x 11 inches (21 x 27.9 cm)
Framed: 13 x 15 7/8 inches (33 x 40.3 cm)
Ruth Asawa with Aiko and Xavier, c. 1951. Photograph © Imogen Cunningham Trust

Ruth Asawa with Aiko and Xavier, c. 1951. Photograph © Imogen Cunningham Trust

Ruth Asawa with Aiko and Xavier, c. 1951. Photograph © Imogen Cunningham Trust

Asawa drew every day, while watching her children, attending public meetings as an activist, observing her garden, and often late into the night. Her home was filled with impromptu sketches, whether a drawing on a paper towel made while attending a meeting at the School of the Arts, or a rose drawn on a brown paper bag.

A pen and brown ink on vellum artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (MI.066, Chair with Double Looped Back), circa 1950 to 1959.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (MI.066, Chair with Double Looped Back), c. 1950 - 1959
Pen and brown ink on vellum
23 1/4 x 18 3/4 inches (59.1 x 47.6 cm)
Framed: 28 1/4 x 24 inches (71.8 x 61 cm)

“If we think about Asawa’s early sculptures in concert with her history of making casts of her friends’ and family’s faces and we combine that with her work to bring artists into the San Francisco public schools, can we connect the dots of her concerns as being deeply immersed in the idea that art and life are deeply intertwined, which would in turn allow us to see her as interested in repetition and difference both as a modernist trope and as a structuring feature of being the mother of six children, who by their very existence and actuality are a living embodiment of the repetition and difference enabled by DNA?”

—Helen Molesworth

 

Asawa was raised on a farm in Norwalk, California, and had a lifelong love of observing plants and nature, which she often drew from life. She also loved gardening and helped promote community gardening in San Francisco, setting up programs for children, schools, and communities.

Ruth Asawa watering her vegetable garden at her Noe Valley home, c. 1976.

Ruth Asawa watering her vegetable garden at her Noe Valley home, c. 1976. Photo © Philip Chan. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Ruth Asawa watering her vegetable garden at her Noe Valley home, c. 1976. Photo © Philip Chan. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

“My curiosity was aroused by the idea of giving structural form to the images in my drawings. These forms come from observing plants, the spiral shell of a snail, seeing light through insect wings, watching spiders repair their webs in the early morning, and seeing the sun through the droplets of water suspended from the tips of pine needles while watering my garden.”

—Ruth Asawa

 
A graphite pencil and watercolor paint on watercolor paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Hydrangea (WC.273, Hydrangea Leaves), dated 1984.

Ruth Asawa

Hydrangea (WC.273, Hydrangea Leaves), 1984
Graphite pencil and watercolor paint on watercolor paper
22 1/4 x 30 inches (56.5 x 76.2 cm)
Framed: 27 3/8 x 35 1/8 inches (69.5 x 89.2 cm)
A hanging sculpture—bronze wire with green patina artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.043, Hanging Tied-Wire, Cubed Open-Center, Multi-Branched Form Based on Nature), circa 1994.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.043, Hanging Tied-Wire, Cubed Open-Center, Multi-Branched Form Based on Nature), c. 1994
Hanging sculpture—bronze wire with green patina
32 x 32 x 32 inches (81.3 x 81.3 x 81.3 cm)

“Our first identity was always to the arts community. When I think of my childhood, I think of my parents’ friends, who were always artists, architects, draftsmen, gardeners, and their kids.”

—Addie Lanier, Asawa’s daughter

 
Ruth Asawa with schoolchildren in the garden of her Noe Valley home, c. 1976.

Ruth Asawa with schoolchildren in the garden of her Noe Valley home, c. 1976. Photo by Laurence Cuneo. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Ruth Asawa with schoolchildren in the garden of her Noe Valley home, c. 1976. Photo by Laurence Cuneo. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

A pen and brown ink on watercolor paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (PF.294, Bouquet), n.d.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PF.294, Bouquet), n.d.
Pen and brown ink on watercolor paper
29 3/4 x 41 3/4 inches (75.6 x 106 cm)
Framed: 35 x 47 1/4 inches (88.9 x 120 cm)

“Doing is living. That is all that matters.”

—Ruth Asawa

Ruth Asawa drawing flowers on the deck of her Noe Valley home.

Ruth Asawa drawing flowers on the deck of her Noe Valley home. Photo © Bob Turner. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Ruth Asawa drawing flowers on the deck of her Noe Valley home. Photo © Bob Turner. Courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Inquire about works by Ruth Asawa

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An oil on paper on board by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (BMC.129, In and Out), circa 1948 to 1949.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (BMC.129, In and Out), c.1948-1949
Oil on paper on board
7 x 19 inches (17.8 x 48.3 cm)
Framed: 12 x 24 inches (30.5 x 61 cm)
An ink and gouache on board artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (SF.003, Undulating Parallelograms), circa 1951 to 1952.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (SF.003, Undulating Parallelograms), c. 1951-1952 
Ink and gouache on board
27 x 27 inches (68.6 x 68.6 cm)
Framed: 33 1/2 x 33 1/2 inches (85.1 x 85.1 cm)
A hanging sculpture—enameled copper and brass wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.237, Hanging Six-Lobed, Interlocking Continuous Form), circa 1958.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.237, Hanging Six-Lobed, Interlocking Continuous Form), c. 1958
Hanging sculpture—enameled copper and brass wire
72 x 15 x 15 inches (182.9 x 38.1 x 38.1 cm)
An ink and colored pencil on brown paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (SD.264, Looped-Wire Five-Lobed Sculpture Drawing), dated 1957.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (SD.264, Looped-Wire Five-Lobed Sculpture Drawing), 1957
Ink and colored pencil on brown paper
48 x 28 inches (121.9 x 71.1 cm)
Framed: 53 5/8 x 34 1/8 inches (136.2 x 86.7 cm)
A pen and black ink on paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (MI.123, Rocking Chair), circa 1968.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (MI.123, Rocking Chair), c. 1968
Pen and black ink on paper
34 x 22 inches (86.4 x 55.9 cm)
Framed: 39 1/4 x 27 1/4 inches (99.7 x 69.2 cm)
A pen and brown ink on vellum artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (MI.066, Chair with Double Looped Back), circa 1950 to 1959.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (MI.066, Chair with Double Looped Back), c. 1950 - 1959
Pen and brown ink on vellum
23 1/4 x 18 3/4 inches (59.1 x 47.6 cm)
Framed: 28 1/4 x 24 inches (71.8 x 61 cm)
A pen and black ink on heavy manilla paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (MI.153, Seven Thonet Style Bentwood Chairs), circa 1950 to 1959.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (MI.153, Seven Thonet Style Bentwood Chairs), c. 1950-1959
Pen and black ink on heavy manilla paper
42 x 60 inches (106.7 x 152.4 cm)
Framed: 47 3/8 x 67 1/2 inches (120.3 x 171.4 cm)
A dip pen and black ink on paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (PF.538, Four Chrysanthemum Stems), dated 1990.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PF.538, Four Chrysanthemum Stems), 1990
Dip pen and black ink on paper
23 x 35 inches (58.4 x 88.9 cm)
Framed: 28 1/4 x 40 1/4 inches (71.8 x 102.2 cm)
A brown and green ink on technical paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (PF.268, Chrysanthemums), circa 1960 to 1969.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PF.268, Chrysanthemums), c. 1960-1969
Brown and green ink on technical paper
18 x 12 inches (45.7 x 30.5 cm)
Framed: 22 7/8 x 16 7/8 inches (58.1 x 42.9 cm)
A pen, brush, and green ink on technical paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (WC.187, Two Watermelons), circa 1960's.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (WC.187, Two Watermelons), c. 1960s
Pen, brush, and green ink on technical paper
20 x 30 inches (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
Framed: 25 x 35 inches (63.5 x 88.9 cm)
A pen and black ink on colored charcoal paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (PF.840, Succulent), dated 1998.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PF.840, Succulent), 1998
Pen and black ink on colored charcoal paper
19 3/4 x 13 1/2 inches (50.2 x 34.3 cm)
Framed: 24 5/8 x 18 1/2 inches (62.5 x 47 cm)
A pen, black ink, and graphite pencil on paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (PF.1059, Succulent in Pot), n.d.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PF.1059, Succulent in Pot), n.d.
Pen, black ink, and graphite pencil on paper
12 x 8 1/2 inches (30.5 x 21.6 cm)
Framed: 16 3/4 x 13 3/8 inches (42.5 x 34.0 cm)
A pen and black ink on technical paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (PF.825, John Elsesser's Leek), dated 1976.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PF.825, John Elsesser's Leek), 1976
Pen and black ink on technical paper
40 x 18 inches (101.6 x 45.7 cm)
Framed: 45 1/4 x 24 3/8 inches (114.9 x 61.9 cm)
A graphite pencil and watercolor paint on watercolor paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Hydrangea (WC.273, Hydrangea Leaves), dated 1984.

Ruth Asawa

Hydrangea (WC.273, Hydrangea Leaves), 1984
Graphite pencil and watercolor paint on watercolor paper
22 1/4 x 30 inches (56.5 x 76.2 cm)
Framed: 27 3/8 x 35 1/8 inches (69.5 x 89.2 cm)
A pen and black ink on paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, Untitled (PF.325, Leaf 2), n.d.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PF.325, Leaf 2), n.d.
Pen and black ink on paper
11 x 8 1/2 inches (27.9 x 21.6 cm)
Framed: 15 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches (40.3 x 34 cm)
A hanging sculpture—galvanized steel, enameled copper, and brass wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.055, Hanging Asymmetrical Nine Interlocking Bubbles), circa 1955.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.055, Hanging Asymmetrical Nine Interlocking Bubbles), c. 1955
Hanging sculpture—galvanized steel, enameled copper, and brass wire
30 x 25 x 16 inches (76.2 x 63.5 x 40.6 cm)
A hanging sculpture—brass and steel wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.643, Hanging Seven-Lobed, Multilayered Interlocking Continuous Form), dated circa 1956.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.643, Hanging Seven-Lobed, Multilayered Interlocking Continuous Form), c. 1956
Hanging sculpture—brass and steel wire
79 x 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches (200.7 x 26.7 x 26.7 cm)
A brush and colored ink on rice paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (PT.133, Five Plane Trees with Moon), circa 1964.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PT.133, Five Plane Trees with Moon), c. 1964
Brush and colored ink on rice paper
12 1/2 x 52 3/8 inches (31.8 x 133 cm)
Framed: 20 x 59 5/8 inches (50.8 x 151.4 cm)
A blueprint artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (MI.170, Blueprint of BMC Meander (BMC.73)), n.d.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (MI.170, Blueprint of BMC Meander (BMC.73)), n.d.
Blueprint
22 x 16 1/2 inches (55.9 x 41.9 cm)
Framed: 27 3/4 x 22 1/8 inches (70.5 x 56.2 cm)
A pen and green ink on technical paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (PF.263, Chrysanthemum), dated 1978.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (PF.263, Chrysanthemum), 1978
Pen and green ink on technical paper
17 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches (44.5 x 46.4 cm)
Framed: 22 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches (57.8 x 59.7 cm)
A pen and black ink on watercolor paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Adam's Foxglove Mother's Day (PF.846), dated 1993.

Ruth Asawa

Adam's Foxglove Mother's Day (PF.846), 1993
Pen and black ink on watercolor paper
22 1/4 x 16 inches (56.5 x 40.6 cm)
Framed: 27 1/4 x 21 1/8 inches (69.2 x 53.7 cm)
A stencil duplicate in black ink on technical paper artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (P.022-I, Chrysanthemum), dated 1974.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (P.022-I, Chrysanthemum), 1974
Stencil duplicate in black ink on technical paper
15 x 10 inches (38.1 x 25.4 cm)
Framed: 20 x 15 inches (50.8 x 38.1 cm)
A hanging sculpture—sterling silver wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.633(a-c), Trio of Hanging Reversible, Open-Window Form Sculptures), circa 1956.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.633(a-c), Trio of Hanging Reversible, Open-Window Form Sculptures), c. 1956
Hanging sculpture—sterling silver wire
Set of three (3) sculptures
Sculpture A: 28 x 7 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches (71.1 x 18.4 x 18.4 cm)
Sculpture B: 21 x 6 x 6 inches (53.3 x 15.2 x 15.2 cm)
Sculpture C: 15 1/2 x 6 1/4 x 6 inches (39.4 x 15.9 x 15.2 cm)
A hanging sculpture—brass wire artwork by Ruth Asawa, titled Untitled (S.302, Hanging Two-Section, Open-Window Form), circa 1954.

Ruth Asawa

Untitled (S.302, Hanging Two-Section, Open-Window Form), c. 1954
Hanging sculpture—brass wire
71 x 15 x 15 inches (180.3 x 38.1 x 38.1 cm)

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