Marisol (Venezuelan and American, born France, 1930–2016). *The Generals*, 1961–62. Wood, mixed media, and sound recording, 87 x 28 1/2 x 76 inches (221 x 72.4 x 193 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1962 (K1962:7). © Estate of Marisol / Albright-Knox Art Gallery / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Marisol

Venezuelan and American, born France, 1930-2016

The Generals, 1961-1962

wood, mixed media, and sound recording

overall: 87 x 28 1/2 x 76 inches (220.98 x 72.39 x 193.04 cm)

Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1962

K1962:7

More Details

Inscriptions

no inscriptions

Provenance

Stable Gallery, New York;
June 9, 1962, purchased by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo with funds provided by Seymour H. Knox

Class

Sculpture

Work Type

Construction (sculpture)

This information may change due to ongoing research. Glossary of Terms

In 1950, Marisol moved to New York to pursue her desire to become a painter, and there she got to know many of the leading artists of the day. During the 1960s, she became increasingly influenced by the frontrunners of the Pop art movement, such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, and even appeared in two of Warhol’s movies. Today, Marisol’s assemblage sculptures—constructed with intelligence, pathos, and, at times, humor—place her at the forefront of a small, select group of female artists who were working with a Pop sensibility during the movement’s heyday. Her unique mixed-media sculptures—the result of carving, nailing, gluing, painting, drawing, plastering, and the incorporation of found objects—often unexpectedly reveal themselves to be self-portraits. Many of her early works are autobiographical and explore her sense of self within the context of societal and family structures.

The Generals features nearly life-size sculptural caricatures of George Washington and the Venezuelan military and political leader Simón Bolívar sitting on a toy horse. Some areas, such as the face of the Bolívar figure, are meticulously rendered, while others are intentionally left seemingly unfinished. The hands of both figures are casts of Marisol's own, giving the sculpture an eerily realistic layer. When the work was first exhibited at the Albright-Knox soon after its acquisition in 1962, a recording of a march entitled “Koronal Kreplach” by the American composer David Amram, a friend of the artist, emanated from the body of the horse. Amram had originally written the score for a Broadway play called The Rivalry, but when Marisol heard it and walked around the sculpture, she found the combination amusing and decided to incorporate it into her work.

Label from Sweet Dreams, Baby! Life of Pop, London to Warhol, May 31–September 8, 2013