A Line in Japan
Richard Long
British, born 1945
1980
A lithographed poster that reproduces Richard Long's 1979 Mount Fuji intervention, in which he laid a single line of stones along a volcanic ridge to turn a minimal act of walking and arranging into a contemplative landscape work.
What hits you is the austere single file of rocks slicing the dark, gravelly slope toward a luminous bank of clouds, the composition balancing cool sky blues with muted earth tones and a palpable sense of solitary scale.
It exemplifies Long's use of walking and humble natural materials to make ephemeral, site-specific gestures whose meaning is carried into the museum by their photographic and printed documentation, helping redefine sculpture and documentary practice in late 20th-century art.
Medium
Lithographed poster, offset printed
Dimensions
composition: 17 9/16 x 26" (44.6 x 66 cm); sheet: 24 7/16 x 34 5/8" (62 x 88 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Art & Project/Depot VBVR Gift
Accession
1061.2007
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
