WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Richard Stankiewicz

Richard Stankiewicz

Richard Stankiewicz

1922

WA-00014079

SculptureConceptual Art

Representation

None documented

10

Institutional Exhibitions

14

Works in Collection

29

Assets Indexed

4

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ3431234

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Philip Johnson: Selected Gifts

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985

No image

Twentieth-Century Art from the Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1969

No image

The 1960s: Painting and Sculpture from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1967

No image

Contemporary Painters and Sculptors as Printmakers

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

No image

Painting and Sculpture from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

No image

Recent Acquisitions

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1961–1962

No image

The Art of Assemblage

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1961

No image

16 Americans

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1959–1960

No image

Recent Sculpture U.S.A.

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1959

No image

Recent Acquisitions: Painting and Sculpture

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1959

Field Verification (2 fields)

1 cross-verified · 1 single-source

Birth yearWikidata + Artsy· 92%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy· 92%

Source Registry (3)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/5601
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Artsy (bulk)https://www.artsy.net/artist/richard-stankiewicz
Tier 1 · Institutional85%
Artist Index
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred35%

About

Why this artist matters now

Richard Stankiewicz was an American sculptor who assembled welded steel constructions from industrial scrap and discarded machinery. Working primarily in the 1950s and 1960s, he transformed found metal fragments into abstract forms that retained visual traces of their former function, creating a dialogue between raw material and aesthetic intention. His practice anticipated later developments in assemblage and junk sculpture while maintaining a rigorous formal discipline. Stankiewicz's work demonstrated that industrial detritus could possess both conceptual and sculptural weight.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Conceptual Art

Medium

Sculpture

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Art Institute of Chicago The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (14)

Untitled, from The New York Collection for Stockholm

Untitled, from The New York Collection for Stockholm

1973 · Lithograph on paper

30.5 × 22.9 cm (12 1/16 × 9 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled from The New York Collection for Stockholm

Untitled from The New York Collection for Stockholm

1973 · Lithograph from a portfolio of seventeen screenprints, nine lithographs, two lithographs with screenprint, one photocopy, and one photograph

composition (irreg.): 11 9/16 x 8 7/8" (29.4 x 22.5cm); sheet: 11 15/16 x 9" (30.3 x 22.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled

1964 · Open bite etching and relief etching with drypoint in black ink on rayon

Image/ plate: 86 × 37.3 cm (33 7/8 × 14 11/16 in.); Sheet: 97.3 × 61.1 cm (38 5/16 × 24 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled (plate 16) from The International Anthology of Contemporary Engraving: The International Avant-Garde, Volume 5: America Discovered (Anthologia internazionale dell'incisione contemporanea: L'Avanguardia internazionale: Volume 5: Scoperta dell'America)

Untitled (plate 16) from The International Anthology of Contemporary Engraving: The International Avant-Garde, Volume 5: America Discovered (Anthologia internazionale dell'incisione contemporanea: L'Avanguardia internazionale: Volume 5: Scoperta dell'America)

1964 · Etching from an album of 16 etchings (one with aquatint, one with drypoint, one with pencil additions), three photogravures (two with etching), and one relief halftone

plate: 5 13/16 x 4 1/4" (14.8 x 10.8cm); page: 11 3/4 x 9 7/16" (29.8 x 24 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1964 · drypoint and open bite

Image and Plate: 86.4 x 37.5 cm (34 x 14 3/4 in.); Sheet: 98.7 x 65.3 cm (38 7/8 x 25 11/16 in.); Matted: 117.5 x 74.9 cm (46 1/4 x 29 1/2 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

1961 · welded steel

Overall: 170.2 x 91.4 x 86.3 cm (67 x 36 x 34 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Sheet: 93.9 x 45.6 cm (36 15/16 x 17 15/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

1959 · Welded steel

Overall: 19 1/4 × 8 5/8 × 9 1/8 in. (48.9 × 21.9 × 23.2 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

Natural History

Natural History

1959 · Welded iron pipes and boiler within wire mesh

14 3/4 x 34 1/4 x 19 1/4" (37.3 x 87 x 48.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1958 · Iron and steel

48 1/2 × 28 × 44 in., 134.2 lb. (123.2 × 71.1 × 111.8 cm, 60.9 kg)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

City Bird

1957 · Iron and steel

27 1/8 x 12 1/4 x 7 1/4" (68.9 x 31.1 x 18.4 cm) including base

Museum of Modern Art

Instruction

1957 · Scrap iron and steel

12 1/2 x 13 1/4 x 8 5/8" (31.7 x 33.6 x 21.8 cm) including base

Museum of Modern Art

Urchin in the Grass

Urchin in the Grass

1956 · Iron and steel

23 5/8 x 16 1/2 x 13" (59.9 x 41.7 x 32.8 cm) including steel base

Museum of Modern Art

Seated Figure II

1946 · Charcoal on paper

23 3/4 × 17 3/4 in. (60.3 × 45.1 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

View all 14 artworks →

Artwork sources (5)

14 published of 20 catalogued · 14 with image

MoMA
6 publishedof 12 catalogued12 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
3 published
Art Institute Chicago
2 published2 img
The Met
2 published
Whitney
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 3)

3 entries · 1 sources

Untitled
1961 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Untitled
1964 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Untitled
1960 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy artwork: #29 (1960)

Artsy

Artsy artwork: Untitled (1962)

Artsy

Artsy artwork: Untitled (1973)

Artsy

Artsy artwork: Untitled

Artsy

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Untitled (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

7

Movements1

Collections6

Art Institute of Chicago The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Whitney Museum of American Art Heritage Auctions

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Heritage Auctions