Miranda Dyson, Children’s Education Associate
As professional artists create and grow their collection of artwork, they use systems to stay organized. In the last two installments of Art Term Tuesday, we reviewed a “body of work” in reference to a series and portfolio. Finally, we’re looking at an example of an oeuvre within FWMoA’s permanent collection with works by David Shapiro.
Oeuvre:
Noun: OoUh-vruh: The complete, collective body of work produced by an artist, writer, composer, or creator over the course of their lifetime.
This French term, first used in the late 1800’s, is derived from the Latin, “opera” or “opus”, meaning “activity, effort, attention or work”. This kind of collective body of work starts forming before most artists realize, with sketches from childhood, or college projects, creating the foundational blocks of the collection.
If you’ve ever seen an exhibit of an individual artist and noticed early sketches, a long-term series, a distinctive change in style, or works on display from multiple decades, you might have been walking through an artist’s oeuvre. An oeuvre has a similar sentiment as a portfolio, in that they both look back over a large group of works and display pieces that represent the artist. The main differences between the two are 1) time and 2) number of pieces. An oeuvre will have more pieces from the lifespan of the artist’s career. FWMoA is entrusted with several oeuvres from artists, including Katja Oxman, Chuck Sperry, and Robert Kipness. An article from the FWMoA blog highlights one work from each of the selected artists included in our archive.
The sampling of pieces seen here by David Shapiro are a small fraction of his oeuvre, as the complete collection is the largest in scope in the history of FWMoA – nearly 800 works! It’s interesting to see the textures, colors, and techniques that carry over or change from one decade to the next. Some oeuvres carry similar themes throughout a lifetime, while others have works that look like they were made by completely different people.
The series above with its misty, dream-like atmosphere has a much different style and mood from the other examples of Shapiro’s work. Yet, in the background there are lines and shapes that echo the organic and mathematic elements used in his Birnham Wood series. The colors of some, in the rust and reds, also remind me of the Birnham Wood and Mudra series.
Whether through a series, portfolio, or oeuvre, it’s inspiring to see the development of an artist’s approach to creations over time. Many artists end up where they didn’t expect, while others see throughlines from as far back as childhood. What would you include in a collective body of work?
Head to our website to learn more about the oeuvres in our special collections and archives!