Recto
John Storrs’s lifelong interest in the interrelationship between sculpture and architecture culminated in a series of works produced in 1923-24 that followed the essential contours and aesthetics of New York’s modern skyscrapers. Forms in Space #1 is a solid, vertical block of marble, more than 7 feet tall, with a multiplaned façade and stepped silhouette. The stark marble and symmetrical, angular forms make it the most purely geometric and abstract of Storrs’s sculptures from this time. Moreover, the shallow, sharp-edged zigzags suggest the Art Deco style of the American Radiator Building and the Barclay-Vesey Building that were being constructed in New York City when this work was created.
Not on view
Date
c. 1924
Classification
Sculpture
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
Overall: 77 × 13 3/4 × 8 3/8 in. (195.6 × 34.9 × 21.3 cm)
Overall (with base): 89 × 15 1/4 × 9 5/8 in. (226.1 × 38.7 × 24.5 cm)
Accession number
84.37
Credit line
50th Anniversary Gift of Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Friedman in honor of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Flora Whitney Miller, and Flora Miller Biddle
Rights and reproductions
© artist or artist's estate
Exhibitions
Installation photography
-
Installation view of Nick Mauss: Transmissions (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 16–May 14, 2018). Clockwise, from bottom left: Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; John Storrs, Forms in Space, c. 1924; Man Ray, New York, 1917/1966; Gaston Lachaise, Man Walking, 1933; Dorthea Tanning, Aux environs de Paris (Paris and Vicinity), 1962; Nick Mauss, Images in Mind, 2018; Pavel Tchelitchew, Interior Landscape Skull, 1949; John Storrs, Forms in Space #1, c. 1924; Elie Nadelman, Two Circus Women, c. 1928–29; Gustav Natorp figure (formerly owned by Lincoln Kirstein), 1898; Sturtevant, Relâche, 1967; Ilse Bing, Untitled (Skyscrapers, night, NY), 1936; Isle Bing, Dead End II, 1936.; Ilse Bing, Three Birds in the Sky, Paris, 1936; Ilse Bing, Between France and U.S.A. (Seascapes), 1936; Elie Nadleman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Carl Van Vechten, Al Bledger of the Von Grona (American) Negro Ballet, 1938; Carl Van Vechten, Al Bledger of the Von Grona (American) Negro Ballet, 1938; Carl Van Vechten, Carl Van Vechten slideshow, 1940–64. Photograph by Ron Amstutz. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
From the exhibition Nick Mauss: Transmissions
-
Installation view of Nick Mauss: Transmissions (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 16–May 14, 2018). Left to right: Dorthea Tanning, Aux environs de Paris (Paris and Vicinity), 1962; Nick Mauss, Images in Mind, 2018; Documentation of George Balachine choreography in rehearsals, 1951–58; Pavel Tchelitchew, Interior Landscape Skull, 1949; John Storrs, Forms in Space #1, c. 1924; Elie Nadelman, Two Circus Women, c. 1928–29; Gustav Natorp figure (formerly owned by Lincoln Kirstein), 1898; Sturtevant, Relâche, 1967; Ilse Bing, Untitled (Skyscrapers, night, NY), 1936; Ilse Bing, Dead End II, 1936.; Ilse Bing, Three Birds in the Sky, Paris, 1936; Ilse Bing, Between France and U.S.A. (Seascapes), 1936; Elie Nadleman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Elie Nadelman, Untitled, c. 1938–46; Carl Van Vechten, Al Bledger of the Von Grona (American) Negro Ballet, 1938; Carl Van Vechten, Al Bledger of the Von Grona (American) Negro Ballet, 1938; Carl Van Vechten, Carl Van Vechten slideshow, 1940–64. Photograph by Ron Amstutz. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
From the exhibition Nick Mauss: Transmissions
-
Installation view of Nick Mauss: Transmissions (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, March 16–May 14, 2018). Wall installation: Nick Mauss, Images in Mind, 2018. Left to right: Documentation of George Balachine choreography in rehearsals, 1951–58; Pavel Tchelitchew, Interior Landscape Skull, 1949; John Storrs, Forms in Space #1, c. 1924; Elie Nadelman, Two Circus Women, c. 1928–29; Gustav Natorp figure (formerly owned by Lincoln Kirstein), 1898; Sturtevant, Relâche, 1967; Ilse Bing, Untitled (Skyscrapers, night, NY), 1936; Isle Bing, Dead End II, 1936. Photograph by Ron Amstutz. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
From the exhibition Nick Mauss: Transmissions
-
Installation view of The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965 (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, June 28, 2019- ). From left to right: Florine Stettheimer, New York/Liberty, 1918-19; John Storrs, Forms in Space, c. 1924; Johns Storrs, Forms in Space #1, c. 1924; Man Ray, New York, 1917/1966; John Storrs, Composition Around Two Voids, c. 1934; Joseph Stella, The Brooklyn Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme, 1939; Margaret Bourke-White, Dam at Fort Peck, Montana, 1936, printed c. 1970; Andreas Feininger, West Side Highway, New York, 1940; Ilse Bing, Dead End II (Smokestacks, Queensborough Bridge), 1936. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
From the exhibition The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965
