My first sculptures were made from dough when I was around eight years old. When my mother made bread and rolls she would always give me a chunk of dough. I formed the dough into shapes which she then baked. The baked sculptures were eventually consumed by members of my family. My work with plaster began when I was a United States cadet nurse. I had access to plaster casting materials. I sometimes started sculptures from scratch while waiting for patients. At other times, I would build up plaster on the patient’s castes to entertain them. After discharge from WWII, I deliberately created life-size plaster sculptures by first building a support made of chicken wire, wrapping plaster gauze over the wire to make an armature, and then covering the shape with plaster. I sometimes embedded objects in the plaster before it dried. In ‘ What Little Boys Are Made Of’, I used multiple items that my older son left in his drawers when he left for college. I stuck these toys and found objects into the wet plaster. ‘Boy Sitting on Step Reading Comic Books’ was one of the early plaster sculptures that became more multimedia. For the head, I used a round fish bowl stuffed with comic books. I also made larger-than-life size figures including a man wearing a rain coat and a slouched hat. This work was acquired for a department store in New Jersey. Another large work was a nude woman, with large hips, a zipped embedded into her belly and a plastic eye that appeared to follow the viewer. The zipper was positioned to allow this imaginary figure to give birth via the zipper. These works described above are in my collection.Throughout this period, I created many clay models which I later had caste into bronze. These works were traded to the owner of a plastics factory to allow me to create my acylicast sculptures and furniture.

“HANGED” Created 1982
Mixed Media 29″ x 43″
Copyright ©2013 Lillian F. Schwartz

“LADIES DRINKING TEA” Created 1982
Mixed Media Oil/collage/venetian blind. 49″ x 35 1/2′ x 3″
Copyright ©2013 Lillian F. Schwartz

“SNAKE CHARMER” Created 1982
Mixed Media. H 48″ x 38″ x 10″
Copyright ©2013 Lillian F. Schwartz

“TEA DRINKERS” Created 1982
Mixed media H 37″ x 48 1/2″ x 3″
Copyright ©2013 Lillian F. Schwartz

“In UTERO” Created 1982
Mixed Media H 37″ x 48 1/2″ x 3″
Copyright ©2013 Lillian F. Schwartz

“SWIMMER” Created 1982
Mixed Media W 38″ x H 50 1/2″ x 4 1/2″
Copyright ©2013 Lillian F. Schwartz

“BOXER” Created 1950s
Liquid Metal. Black Acrylic finish. W 6 3/4″ x 3 3/4″

“Past Media/Oil;Watercolor;Plastic”
Acrylic patterned box H 7 1/2″ x  W7 3/4″.
Partially /squeezed Oil and Watercolor tubes arranged in Acrylic Box with different sized Acrylic Balls on top.

LIGHT BOXES Created 1966

“MONA/LEO” Created 1985
32″x32″ LAMINATE # 1  18″ x 15″(In storage room on shelf)
LAMINATE #2 57″ x 7″ (One hanging above basement stairs)
LAMINATE #3 57″ x  7″ (In basement rack)

MOLDS

MAQUETTES/MODELS FOR LARGER WORKS

“BRASS PYRAMID”
11 1/2″ on all sides. In Kitchen.

“WOMAN TWISTED AND KNEELING” Created 1957

Wax figure H 3 x 2″ x 2″.

“MALE/FEMALE”
Liquid metal over plaster. Black Acrylic Finish.

OTHER

“THREE FACES” x 2 Panels (Good Condition)
Mosaics of three faces on one panel facing other panel.
Mirrored inside. 33″ x 15 1/2′ x 2 3/8″

“VANITY” with missing pieces of tile.

Bronze

“ETRUSCAN/GIACOMETTI” Created 1995
2 Bronze lamps
Male and Female” H 57″ x 3 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ each

“MOTHER AND CHILD” Created 1957
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire and plaster. Black oil finish 12″ x 8″ x 161/2″. Black Micarta Base.

“WOMAN SHAPE” Created 1957
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire/plaster. H 25 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ x 5″.

“RODENT on TREE TRUNK” Created 1957
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire/plaster. Black Acrylic finish. H 13 3/4″ x 10″ x 6″ Base 5 7/8″ x 6″.

“BEAR” Created 1957
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire and plaster. Black Acrylic finish H 10 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ Base 7″ x 9 ”

“BIRD” Created 1957
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire and plaster. Black Acrylic finish

“RODENT” Created 1957
Vermiculite and Kean’s cement. Black Acrylic finish W 7 3/4″ x 6 1/2″ Base 12″ x 17″ x 1/2″

“Woman resting head on arm” Created 1957
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire and plaster. Black Acrylic finish H 9 3/4″ x 8 1/2″. Black Micarta Base.

“DUCK” Created 1957
Vermiculite and Kean’s cement. Black Acrylic finish. H 15 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ Plaster

“FACE RELIEF” Created 1961
Liquid Metal Black Acrylic finish H 8″ x 6 1/3′ x 1/2″ on plastic tray.
Copyright © Lillian F. Schwartz. All rights reserved.

Kinetic

“PROXIMA CENTAURI” Created 1968
Copyright © 1968, 2012 Lillian F. Schwartz All rights reserved.

First exhibited in 1968 in the exhibition “The Machine at The End of Mechanical Age” at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. A second edition was exhibited in 1969 in the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York.

An interactive kinetic sculpture contained in a minimal structure with a dome. The observer may step on a pressure-sensitive pad, which triggers motors that generate a number of vigorously dramatic effects on the dome.

“CAPRICIOUS CONSTELLATION” Created 1985
20’x 5′
Copyright © Lillian F. Schwartz 1985, 2012 All rights reserved.

A computer-controlled mobile in Homage to Calder. Created by Schwartz WITH HELP BY ARNO Penzias.

Although the kinetic sculpture creates an illusion of heaviness, it is relatively light. The massive-looking piping is a thin-walled tubing intended for bathroom fixtures suggested by Arno A. Penzias.

 

Description/’photos/drawings in Banker’s  Box
A computer-controlled mobile in Homage to Calder. Created by Schwartz and Penzias. Parts are wrapped in Garage. Motor and chain are in basement.

 

The sculpture, Capricious Constellation, combines mechanics, one of the oldest branches of science, with computational mathematics, one of the newest disciplines, to create an unending series of patterns. The back-and-forth rotations of the computer-driven central arm, and the power of inertia, combine to drive the quasi-epicyclic motions of the lower levels.Alexander Calder pioneered this art form with a series of wind-driven mobiles. Since an indoor museum-setting precludes the exploitation of wind as a driving force, some museums – notably The National Gallery in Washington, D.C. – have posthumously motorized some of Calder’s later works. “Capricious Constellation” pays homage to Calder’s original concept of the mobile as a source of never-ending variety by substituting a computer-based source of random energy for the missing wind power.

Capricious Constellation’s structure makes intentional use of massive-looking piping studded with heavy hexagonal joints, (causing one critic to describe the piece as a “huge steel structure”), in order to heighten the viewer’s surprise at the lightness of its motion. In reality, thin-walled, chrome-plated, brass tubing creates the illusion of bulky steel while minimizing weight and providing great tensile strength.

The changing constellations formed by the sculpture’s mechanical members are heightened by the light and shadows cast by sideways illumination. The result is a dynamic and unpredictable choreograph.

Just as Calder applied his background in engineering to his work, the present work reflects the scientific as well as the aesthetic interests of its creators.

“DEFYING GRAVITY” Created 1985
Copyright © Lillian F. Schwartz 1985, 2012 All rights reserved.

When someone enters the room, sound sensors deactivate the circuitry that generates a magnetic field, releasing the metal blocks upward. The artist’s hands are resetting the blocks.

Rectangular wooden blocks are made of balsa wood with the appropriate weight of metal bars placed at the bottom to hold the blocks in a horizontal position until they are released. The bottom block has a magnet that is released when a pressure-sensitive pad on the floor is stepped on causing this block to fall “up”. The blocks are reset by hand. Assisted by Arno A. Penzias.

“STAINLESS STEEL SCULPTURE” Created 1985
H 87 1/2″x 34″ at widest part
Copyright © 2012 Lillian F. Schwartz All rights reserved.

A number of stainless steel sculptures were created out of bands of stainless steel that were twisted and spot welded.
Has triangle stainless steel rods that support twisted bands of stainless steel. Welding by Arno A. Penzias.

“HOMAGE TO NASA” Created 1982
48″ high x 60″ wide x 6″ deep
Copyright © Lillian F. Schwartz 2012 All rights reserved.

Created by Schwartz WITH HELP BY Arno Penzias
. A kinetic sculpture, Homage to NASA is made up of 30 abstract aluminum shapes on the face of the sculpture. These shapes, suggesting man, sun and the moon are attached to shafts that have gears at the backside. Belts that are controlled by nine motors move the gears. There are electronics in the back that activate the motors. There are five flashes. Shining light on solenoids embedded in the sculpture’s frame creates motion. A plug can be inserted into the lower right side of the sculpture frame to allow the sculpture to run automatically.

“WAVES” Created 1987
Copyright © Lillian F. Schwartz 1987, 2012 All rights reserved.

In 1972 Lillian Schwartz was commissioned by AT&T to create a five story high computer-controlled kinetic sculpture in honor of Physicists Joseph Davison and Lester H. Germer who gave the world a new view of matter as light. Schwartz decided to construct a work that would both simulate waves in its own motion while at the same time playing with light waves.

Schwartz worked with scientists Bill Blumberg and Dave Zuckerman to construct a scale model sixteen feet in length and six feet high. They decided on sixteen rectangular highy polished aluminum panels. The panels were four feet long, one inch thick, and eight inches wide. The panels were hung from a frame with one motor controlling each panel. The panels could be moved to simulate specific motions such as sinusoidal or saw tooth waves or could have random motion. Light waves were reflected off the mirrored surface. Lights directed on the sculpture created an interplay of reflections and changing patterns on the ceiling and walls. Bill and Dave interfaced each motor with its own microprocessor and wrote a program so that the degree, duration and direction of a rotation could be controlled on the basis of a single panel’s motion and its motion in relation to the other panels. A personal computer ran the operation but was later replaced by a control box with toggel switches. Due to the divestiture of AT&T in the mid 70’s the five – story sculpture was never completed. Schwartz redesigned the scale model to exist independent of the original planned work.
Later in 1987, the panels were painted matte black on one side to give a different appearance when light (now slides) were projected on the moving surfaces. Before its exhibition at the Morris Museum of Art and Science in New Jersey, Schwartz worked with Dan Nachbar, at that time a Bell Communications Research computer scientist, to update the work to its present state.

Dan built a computer using “Programmable Read Only Memories” (Proms) to control new and more extensive choreography of the work that Schwartz wanted to add. Magnets were attached to the tops of the panels to set the position of each panel in relaion to an electromagnetic read switch. The switches are imbedded into the frame of the sculpture.
The flexibility of constructing this work where programming can be changed and updated allows for future variables and or additions. Plans are in progress to adapt musical tone generation to the sculpture as well as incorporating ultrasonic range detectors to sense the position of the spectator and react accordingly.
In preparation for Waves exhibition at the Computer Museum in Boston, the motors were changed by Arno Penzias. The computer was programmed to rotate any of the panels in full 360 degrees in any way for which a mathematical expression could be written.
Dan wrote programs written in a high level language which were “burned into” the computer’s memory in such a way that execution began whenever the power was turned on. The computer senses the orientation of any of the panels through a potentiometer/voltage divider arrangement.
Use of a microprocessor, along with accurate feedback mechanisms will allow the sculpture to exhibit complex, interactive behaviours that were previously unattainable.
For instance, the computer can be programmed to have the reflective side of all sixteen panels point directly at the spectator and thus the 16 reflections will follow the person as he moves back and forth in front of the sculpture.
Another advantage of using a stored program computer is that more than one interaction can be used. In fact, many different interactions can be shown in succession with the order or presentation determined passively or actively by the spectators.
WAVE MOTION is a 16ft. x 6 ft. construction, coposed of rectangular aluminum panels 8″ x 4ft. x 1″ matte finish on one sie and mirrored finish on the other side.
Lights directed on the sculpture create an interplay of reflections and changing patterns on the ceiling and walls.
The structure consists of 16 micro-processor controlled bidirectional motors. The computer can be progammed to rotate any of the panels a full 36- degrees in any way for which a mathematical expression can be written.
A program written in a high level language can be “burned into” the computer’s memory in such a way that execution begins whenever the power is turned on. The computer can sense the orientatio of any of the panels throguh potentiometer/voltage divider arrangement. Current work involves adding ultrasonic range detectors that will allow the computer to accurately calculate the locatio of the spectators.
Use of a microporssor, along with accurat feeedback mechanisms wil allow the sculpture to exhibit complex, interactive behaviours, that were previously unattainable.
For instance, the computer can be programmed to have the reflective side of all sixteen panels point directly at the spectator and thus the 16 reflections will follow the person as he moves back-and-forth in front of the sculpture. Another advantage of using a stored program computer is to provide more than one succession with the order of presentation determined passively or actively by the spectators.

Metal

“Bronze Tree” Created 1998

“STUDY FOR WIND SCULPTURE” Created 1988
Steal Base 12″ x 4″ x 7 Rods/balls/Springs

“MAN WALKING” Created 1950s
Metal/Solder H 14 1/2″ x 6 ” Wood Base 5″ x 6 3/4″

“WOMAN DANCER” Created 1956
Metal/solder H 7 3/4″ x 15 1/2″ Wood Base 17 1/4″ x 19″

Mixed Media

“Desin OVER sun” Created 2001
Medium : Mixed Media

“WHAT LITTLE BOYS ARE MADE OF” 42′ x 18 1/2″ x 11″ Copyright © 1960 Lillian F. Schwartz. All rights reserved.

I sometimes embedded objects in the plaster before it dried such as in What Little Boys Are Made Of, I used multiple items that my older son left in his drawers when he went off to college. I stuck these toys and found objects into the wet plaster. Boy Sitting on Steps Reading Comic Books was one of the early plaster sculptures that became more multimedia. For the head I used a round fish bowl stuffed with comic books.

I also made larger than life-size figures including a man wearing a rain-coat and a slouched hat. Another large work was of a nude woman, with large hips, a zipper a plastered into her belly and a plastic eye that appeared to follow the viewer. The zipper was positioned to allow this imaginary figure to give birth via the zipper. These works described above are in my collection.

“WHAT LITTLE BOYS ARE MADE OF” Created 1960
Collage sculpture/plaster base/objects glued on surface.
42′ x 18 1/2″ x 11″. Base brown wood 16 1/2″ x 12″. Do not separate Base from sculpture.

“VENUS OF MILO” Created 1950
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire and plaster. H 70″ Base 14″ x 17″

“POT TRAINING” Created 1952
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire’plaster/wood. H 25″ w 13′ D 35″

“COMIC BOOK HEAD” Created 1960
Kean’s cement and vermiculite over wire/plaster. Plastic head. H 25″ x w 13″ x D 13″

“Unique face” Created 1960

“Woman resting head on arm” Created 1960

“WOMAN SEATED” Created 1957
Wax figure H 5 3/4′ x 4″ x 4″

“Profile of a man on two acrylic bases” Created 1957

“Blown glass on two acrylic bases” Created 1957

#10 “ICE” CUBE on Steel Stand. Three roughened sides. 13 1/2″ x 11″ Plain sides. 10 3/4″ x 11″. One

Plastics (Acrylicast) and Glass

“Acrylicast #32” Copyright © 1961 Lillian F. Schwartz. All rights reserved.

ACRYLICAST SCULPTURES (most signed with initials LS 1961 – 1970’s) Toluene was used to dissolve pieces together.

To create Acrylicast #32, I delayed the setting time of the plastic to cause distortions. Other areas of the sculpture were crazed with a blowtorch and solvents before adding acrylic balls. Fluorescent backlighting caused me to devise a new palette for the laminated paintings I placed over light boxes. Since each glass container in World’s Fair could have a colored liquid in its inner or outer containers, or both, I was able to create the illusion of numerous colors even though I was limited to six. A motor and timing devices control the flow of the colored liquids until an observer asserts control through the box of buttons.

#1 Plastic with balls and red infused W 7 3/4″ x6 1/2″ Base 5 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
#2 Blue Acrylic H 37 1/4″ x 3 1/4′ x 1/2″ Base 13″ x 2 3/4′ x 1/2″
#3 4 Sides 4′ x 2″ x 1 3/16″ Base 4″ x 2″ x 1 3/16″
#4 4 sided 3 78/” x 2 1/2′ x 2 5/8″ x 4 1/2″ x 2″ x 4″ Base 3″ x 3″ 3″
#5 Plastic with attached balls H 7 1/4″ x 4″ x4″ x 4″
#6 1 piece with balls and color 12 1/2″ x 16″. Base 6″ x 13″
#7 3 sections with acrylic balls of all sizes/rods/one large panel 18″ x 7 7/8″
and two smaller panels 29 1/4″ x23 1/2″;1 3/4″ deep in front/metal base 4″ x 22 1/2″ 7″ In back
#8 2 panels with red between. Third piece on top. 6″ x 2 1/4′ x 8 1/2″.
#9 “Extrusions 1″ Base: solid clear acrylicast 11 7/8″ x 3 3/8″ x 18 1/2”

#10 “ICE” CUBE on Steel Stand. Three roughened sides. 13 1/2″ x 11″ Plain sides. 10 3/4″ x 11″. One corner damaged. Place this corner down. Triangle stainless steel rods. H 48″. Top each side 11 1/2″.
#11 Single panel W 4 3/4″ x H 30″ Metal Base 5″ x 9 5/8″
#12 Single panel W 6 1/2′ x 19′ Metal base 6″ x 12 3/”
#13 Single panel W 8 7/8″ x 24 5/9″ Metal Base 6″ x 8 7/8″
#14 Four panels encasing images of Seated Nude in different colors to enhance depth of images. W 8 7/8″ x 14″ Base 3′ x 14″.
#15 Blue acrylicast W 7 1/4′ x 25 1/2″ Base 6″ x 7 ”
#16 Single panel W 13 1/2″ x H 21 1/3″ Metal Base 7″ x 20″
#17 Single panel W 14′ x 21′ Metal base 4 3/4″ x 14/”
#18 Single panel W 28 1/2″ x 62 3/4″ Metal Base 38 1/2″ x 17 3/4″ in LR
#19 “Twin Towers” 2 panels with red in part of plastic.20 5/8″ x 3″ x 1 1/4″ on triennial base.
#20 13 1/4″ x 21″ Metal base 7″ x 70″
#21 21 1/2 ” x 15 3/4″ x 1 1/8″ Plastic base 16″ x 8″ Small plastic balls attached on
side/some red paint
#22 Blue acrylicast w 6 1/4′ x 18″ Metal base 6″ x 12 1/2″
#23 Acrylicast with balls 6 1/8″ x 17 1/4′ Metal base 6′ x 12 1/2″
#24 Acrylicast Blue with clear Triangle and ball in front 6 1/8″ x 17 1/4′ Base 4″ x 4″ x 1/2″ H!5″x 13/4″ x 1/2″
#25 Acrylicast 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2: x 3 3/4″. Has seven sides
# 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 4 pieces Abstract cut outs of women with cross legs. 2 mounted on bases 6″ x 23 1/2″ H 40 3/4″ W at lower part 32 1/4″ 1/2″ thick plastic
#31 4 pieces together. Red strips on inner edges. H 21″ W 9 1/2″ Plastic base 15 1/2″ x 11 3/4″ x 1 1/2″. Base unfinished. Needs mirror glued to surface of base.
#32 2 Blue pieces V shaped, hole in one side deliberate H 39 1/2″ x 12 1/2 ” Blue plastic base 12 3/4″ x 2 1/2″
#33 Blue circle with one flat end for mounting. Needs base. H 23″ to flat side W 23 1/2″ round side.
# 34 Double panel with acrylic balls on inside of panels. H 36 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ x 3/4″ Base 10″ x10″ x 1″.
#35 White plastic square for hanging on one hook as diagonal. Painted on two sides in reds, yellow, purples, pinks. 26 1/2″ x 26 1/2″. Hang with light behind.
#36 Grey plastic with acrylic balls and small pieces of white plastic. W 22 1/2″ x 17′ x 1″ Base 22 1/2″ x 5 3/4″.
#37 Panel with abstract curves on one side. Red in the plastic. Triangles protruding on other side. W at base 10″ x 36 1/2 ” x 3/4 ” Base 10″ x 11″.
#38 Panel with textures/acrylic balls of different sizes/ tubes on both sides. W 34″ x H 68 1/4″ x 1/2′”. Metal base and frame.
#39 “Extruded Materials around the bottom of Two Vertical Panels”. Base:: solid clear acrylicast 21″ x 3 1 1/2″ x 16″

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water Sculpture

“DIAGONAL WATER SCULPTURE” – Copyright © Lillian F. Schwartz. All rights reserved./

W 49″ x 6″ Base 20″ x 17 1/2″ x 13 1/2″
Needs water and color to operate.

“WORLD’S FAIR” Created 1964
Copyright © Lillian F. Schwartz. All rights reserved.

World’s Fair was built as a scale model for a large sculpture for the 1964 World’s Fair in Japan. The tubes for the model were found at a glass chemical factory. Since each glass container could have a colored liquid in its inner and outer containers, or both, I was able to create the illusion of numerous colors. For example if yellow was the inner color and blue used in the outer part of the tube then one could perceive green when the two colors overlapped. This sculpture is a mechanical forerunner of computer-controlled sculptures. Motor and timing device control the flow of the colored liquids either in an automatic mode or until an observer asserts control through the box of buttons. In basement. Will need water and color added to operate.

“TREE MODEL FOR WATER SCULPTURE”
H 5 1/2″ x W 2 3/4″ x 3 3/4″ x 3 3/’4″ x 3 3/4″ x 3/34″ Base 2″ x 2″ x 1″
Copyright © Lillian F. Schwartz. All rights reserved.
(Drawings/other materials – Banker’s Box)
Wire/cardboard/string