Bird Machine #2

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Artist Dorothy Dehner (American, 1901–1994)

Title Bird Machine #2

Date 1955

Medium Engraving on paper

Dimensions Image: 5 15/16 × 8 15/16 in. (15.1 × 22.7 cm)
Plate: 5 15/16 × 8 15/16 in. (15.1 × 22.7 cm)
Sheet: 11 1/4 × 14 in. (28.6 × 35.6 cm)

Credit Line Gift of the Dehner Foundation, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

Accession Number 2021.92

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About this Work

Like many talented women artists of her generation, the Abstract Expressionist Dorothy Dehner was largely overshadowed by her more well-known artist-spouse. It was not until she left her first husband, David Smith, in 1950 that Dehner began to realize her full potential as a modernist sculptor and painter. While some of the works from this period reflect the anguish of an abusive relationship, others like this drawing suggest flight or a joyful, dance-like abandon.

Provenance
More Details

2021, Gift to the Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, from the Dorothy Dehner Foundation, New York, NY

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Bird Machine #2 | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2021.92