Untitled
Artist once known
![Untitled](https://highmuseum-redesign.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/datasync/collection-objects/24983_1695836249161.jpg)
Details
Title
Untitled
Artist/Maker
Artist once known
Date
late 19th century
Medium
Wood, metal, and paint
Dimensions
18 × 24 × 12 inches
Credit
Gift of Leo Rabkin in memory of Dorothea Rabkin
Accession #
2016.168
On View
Currently not on view
Artists and craftsmen have made whirligigs—playful kinetic sculptures fastened to outdoor posts—for centuries, often using leftover scraps of wood. The wind easily would have caught the paddle arms of the figure in this example, resulting in a fast whipping motion. This piece was once in the collection of Leo Rabkin, an abstract painter who recognized the parallels between the pared-down forms of folk art and the ideas of the abstract painters he worked alongside at mid-century.