Images(4)

Nedotykompectomy

Object NameStained Glass Panel

Artist Judith Schaechter (American, b. 1961)

Made FromSheet Glass, Vitreous Paint, Swarovski Crystals, Lead Came and Copper Foil

Date1986

TechniqueCut, sandblasted, assembled

SizeOverall H: 66.7 cm, W: 33.4 cm, Th: 1.6 cm

Accession Number87.4.38

Curatorial Area(s)

Postwar and Contemporary

Exhibitions

The Path to Paradise: Judith Schaechter's Stained-Glass Art

Title Unknown (Nexus Gallery)

Glass 1

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

Throughout her work, Schaechter depicts characters experiencing suffering, loss, and redemption. Nedotykompectomy, a made-up word, was directly inspired by a 15th-century painting by Hieronymus Bosch that shows a patient undergoing a lobotomy. In this panel, a bound, bleeding individual has a small figure plucked from its forehead by a disembodied hand descending from above, much as the hand of God is depicted in early European painting. The Punk/Gothic style of Schaechter’s characters recalls the anxious but beautiful figures of medieval art, as well as early 20th-century German Expressionist painting.

Place Made

United States, PA, Philadelphia

Physical DescriptionStained Glass Panel, “Nedotykompectomy.” Multi-colored (largely deep red, cobalt blue, and black) sheet glass, vitreous paint, Swarovski crystals, lead came and copper foil; cut, sandblasted, assembled. Vertical rectangular panel; leaded panel with overall linear drawing; panel format consists of internal vertical section framed by narrow band of leaded cobalt, in turn framed by a wider band of small squares and rectangles etched or sandblasted to depict parts of the body (brain, teeth, eye, heart, or red veining); central panel has paired and etched image of a small node with outstretched arms standing on an open hand attached to arm that extends into picture plane from outside border; a second arm with closed hand extends in from opposite side to touch the turned head of a large, double-plated figure with closed eyes, bound hands, straight legs that extend to corners with feet with upturned soles; applied overall red crystal drops applied to head and torso; unsigned.
Provenance

Provenance Remark

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