View source for Two Open Rectangles, Excentric, Variation VI

{{Infobox artwork
| image_file         = TwoOpenRectangles Rickey.jpg
| painting_alignment = 
| image_size         = 200px
| title              = Two Open Rectangles, Excentric, Variation VI
| alt                = 
| artist             = [[George Rickey]](1907-2002)
| year               = {{Start date|1976}}
| height_metric      = 
| width_metric       = 
| length_metric      = 
| height_imperial    = 12
| width_imperial     = 3
| length_imperial    = 
| metric_unit        = m
| imperial_unit      = ft
| city               = [[Middlebury, Vermont]]
| museum             = [[Middlebury College]] Museum of Art
| coordinates        = {{coord|44|0|40.53|N|73|10|36.85|W|region:US}}
| owner              =
}}

'''''Two Open Rectangles, Excentric, Variation VI''''', is a public artwork by [[United States|American]] artist [[George Rickey]], located on the [[Middlebury College]] campus, outside of the Christian A. Johnson Memorial Building, in [[Middlebury, Vermont]], [[United States]]. This [[kinetic sculpture]] of stainless steel consists of two rotating open rectangles attached with bearings on a u-shaped mount on an upright arm in a steel base. It measures approximately 12 feet high by 3 feet wide.

==Description==
This [[stainless steel]] sculpture is composed of two rotating open rectangles attached with bearings on a u-shaped mount on an upright arm is a steel base. The rectangles move with the wind in a [[yaw, pitch and roll]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!23832~!0#focus |title= Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Inventory Number IAS 62130015|accessdate= June 6, 2010}}</ref> The steel base is painted grey in color and has a silver colored metal plate label attached to it with screws.

==Information==
The sculpture replaced a smaller work by Rickey, Two Open Rectangles, Excentric, Variation III, which was stolen from its pedestal in front of the Middlebury College Johnson Building on August 15, 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://middarchive.middlebury.edu/u?/underpub,2983 |title= $8500 Sculpture Stolen from Johnson Pedestal|author= Jim Labe|date= September 29, 1976 |publisher= Middlebury Campus |accessdate= January 30, 2011 }}</ref>  Although the artist and the college were disappointed by the theft, the occasion did permit the artist to produce a similar, larger sculpture that would hold up to the scale of the Johnson Building's architecture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://middarchive.middlebury.edu/u?/underpub,4084 |title= Sculpture Theft: Blessing in Disguise |author= Rick Legro|date= November 2, 1977 |publisher= Middlebury Campus |accessdate= January 30, 2011 }}</ref>

It, or a near replica, recently (September 2019) has been spotted in Sydney G. Walton Square, San Francisco.

===Acquisition===
The sculpture was commissioned in 1976 by the Middlebury College Friends of the Art Museum. The purchase was funded by a matching grant from the [[National Endowment for the Arts]] and the Friends of the Art Museum's Acquisition Fund. This work was the first outdoor sculpture acquired for the Middlebury College campus.

==Condition==
This sculpture's condition was described as being well-maintained in 1992 as part of [[Save Outdoor Sculpture!]], a campaign organized by Heritage Preservation: The National Institute of Conservation partnered with the [[Smithsonian Institution]], specifically the [[Smithsonian American Art Museum]]. Throughout the 1990s, over 7,000 volunteers cataloged and assessed the condition of over 30,000 publicly accessible statues, monuments, and sculptures installed as outdoor public art across the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heritagepreservation.org/Programs/Sos/aboutsos.htm |title=About SOS! |author= |date=2009 |work= |publisher=heritagepreservation.org |access-date=March 25, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108041805/http://www.heritagepreservation.org/Programs/SOS/aboutsos.htm |archive-date=January 8, 2009 |df= }}</ref> In Vermont, the survey was sponsored by the Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance from 1992-1993 where 110 volunteers surveyed 242 sculptures dating from 1740 to 1993. The archives from the project are maintained by the [[Vermont Historical Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://catalog.vermonthistory.org/vhsweb2/tramp2.exe/form/A09gcmo9.000 |title= Record for Doc 320 Finding Aid for Save Outdoor Sculpture! Records, 1992-1993|author=Anne Lawless |date=1993 |publisher= vermonthistory.org |accessdate= March 25, 2010 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Stainless steel]]

==References==
{{Reflist }}

==External links==
*[http://www.middlebury.edu/arts/campus/artexhib/george_rickey_two_open_rectangles Two Open Rectangles, Excentric, Variation VI on Middlebury College's site]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWsrrbciRw Middlebury College's Public Art Collection - Jules Olitski and George Rickey]
{{Middlebury College|state=autocollapse}}
[[Category:1976 establishments in Vermont]]
[[Category:1976 sculptures]]
[[Category:Middlebury College]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Vermont]]
[[Category:Steel sculptures in Vermont]]
[[Category:Kinetic sculptures in the United States]]