Renowned Sculptor Robert Engman Featured in Monographic Exhibition at the Michener Art Museum

Shifting the Limits: Robert Engman’s Structural Sculpture Will Showcase the Artist’s Sculpture and Jewelry

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Beginning October 22, the James A. Michener Art Museum will present an exhibition highlighting the work of renowned sculptor Robert Engman, whose large-scale piece Triune is a distinctive part of Philadelphia’s Center City landscape. Showcasing the artist’s smaller-sized sculpture as well as his jewelry, Shifting the Limits: Robert Engman’s Structural Sculpture will be the first monographic exhibition of Engman’s work in decades. The exhibition will be on view through February 5, 2017.

“We are thrilled to be able to display Robert Engman’s remarkable work at the Michener,” said Lisa Tremper Hanover, director and CEO of the Michener Art Museum. “There is an almost magical geometry to his sculptures, inviting close examination. We look forward to sharing that experience with our Michener visitors.”

“Engman’s sculpture is as beautiful as it is distinctive,” said Kirsten M. Jensen, Ph.D., the Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator of the Michener Art Museum, who curated the exhibition. “Each piece begs to be seen from all angles, an experience enhanced by polished surfaces and often breathtaking patinas in a near rainbow of color.”

Robert Engman was born to Swedish emigrants in 1927. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a bachelor of fine arts, and from Yale University with a master of fine arts in painting and sculpture. While at Yale he studied with painter Josef Albers and sculptor José de Rivera. He taught at Yale in the 1950s, and at the University of Pennsylvania for nearly thirty years. He retired in 1992, but has continued to explore structure and form in his studio. This is the first exhibition of Engman’s work in twenty-five years, and the first to explore the arc of his career, from the First Piece (Moon) to the final piece, Two Pyramids.

Exhibition-related programs include a gallery talk with Jensen on Tuesday, November 1 at 1 pm; a gallery talk with Anders Engman, Robert Engman’s son, on Wednesday, November 9 at 3 pm; and a special exhibition lecture by the Michener’s Director and CEO Lisa Tremper Hanover on Tuesday, October 25 at 1 pm. The Michener Art Museum will also present a gallery-based program in collaboration with the Barnes Foundation on Thursday, December 15 at 2 pm.

Shifting the Limits: Robert Engman’s Structural Sculpture is generously supported by Jon Paton. In-kind support is provided by an anonymous donor.

The Michener Art Museum is located at 138 South Pine St., Doylestown, PA. The Museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm; Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm; and Sunday, noon – 5:00 pm.

For more details about the exhibition and its programs, visit MichenerArtMuseum.org