Art Institute of Chicago

Clown Torture

Bruce Nauman · 1987

Provenance

Ownership history

The artist, sold through David Young Gallery, Chicago to private collection, Madrid, 1989; sold through Donald Young Gallery, Chicago to Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles, partially given and partially sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 24, 1997.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Exhibition history

New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Richard Artschwager, Bruce Nauman, Frank Stella, May 16–June 6, 1987, no cat.
Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Bruce Nauman: Videos 1965-1986, concurrent with Bruce Nauman: Drawings 1965-1986, Feb. 16–Apr. 10, 1988, no cat.
Madrid, ARCO MADRID, Shown by Donald Young Gallery, February 1989, no cat.
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Image World: Art and Media Culture, Nov. 8, 1989–Feb. 18, 1990, no cat. no.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Energieën, Apr. 8–July 29, 1990, no cat. no.
Basel, Switzerland, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Bruce Nauman: Sculptures and Installations 1985–1990, Sept. 23–Dec. 10, 1990, cat. 6; Frankfurt, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, May 30–Aug. 25, 1991; Lausanne, Switzerland, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Oct. 5, 1991–Jan. 5, 1992, cat. 6.
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Bruce Nauman, Nov. 30, 1993–Feb. 21, 1994, cat. 59; Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, Apr. 10–June 19, 1994, cat. 59; Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, July 17–Sept. 25, 1994; Washington D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Nov. 3, 1994–Jan. 29, 1995; New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Mar. 1–May 23, 1995; Zurich, Kunsthaus, July 14–Oct. 8, 1995.
Buffalo, NY, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Being & Time: The Emergence of Video Projection, Sept. 21–Dec. 1, 1996, no cat. no.; Bloomfield Hills, MI, Cranbrook Art Museum, Jan. 24–Mar. 29, 1997; Portland, OR, Portland Art Museum, May 24–July 27, 1997; Houston, Texas, Contemporary Arts Museum, Aug. 16–Oct. 5, 1997; Santa Fe, New Mexico, SITE Santa Fe, Nov. 1, 1997–Jan. 25, 1998,
Wolfsburg, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Bruce Nauman: Image/Text 1966–96’, May 24–Sept. 26, 1997, no cat. no; Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Dec. 16, 1997–Mar. 9, 1998, no cat. no; London, Hayward Gallery, as Bruce Nauman, July 16–Sept. 6, 1998, no cat. no; Helsinki, Nykytaiteen Museo, Oct. 17, 1998–Jan. 24, 1999 (London only).
Bonn, Germany, Bonner Kunstverein, Rewind to the Future, Dec. 1, 1999–Feb. 13, 2000; Berlin, Neue Berliner Kunstverein, Jan. 14–Feb. 20, 2000, no cat. no.
Normal, Illinois State University Galleries, 2000 Clowns, June 10-–Sept. 10, 2000, no cat.
Germany, Deutsche Guggenheim, Bruce Nauman: Theaters of Experience, Oct. 31, 2003–Jan. 18, 2004, no cat. no.

Literature

Published references

Kim Bradley, “Bruce Nauman: the Private and the Public,” Artspace 11, 3 (Summer 1987), 62-–63.
Joseph Simas, “Letter from Belgium & France,” Arts Magazine 64 (November 1989), 113–4.
Marvin Heiferman, John G. Hanhardt, and Lisa Phillips, Image World: Art and Media Culture, exh. cat. (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1989), 164 (ill.).
Luciano Fabro, Willem A. L. Beeren, Frits Keers, and Din Pieters, Energieen, exh. cat. (Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum, 1990), 58, 59, 60-65 (color ill.).
Jörg Zutter and Franz Mayer, Bruce Nauman: Skulpturen und Installationen 1985-1990, exh. cat. (Köln: DuMont, 1990), cover page (ill.), 27 (ill.), as fig. 31, 106.
Brooks Adams, “The Nauman Phenomenon,” Art and Auction 13, 5 (New York: December 1990), 118–125.
Jörg Zutter, “Alienation of the Self, Command of the Other: In the work of Bruce Nauman,” Parkett 27 (1991), 157, 158 (ill.).
Jörg Zutter and Franz Mayer, Bruce Nauman: Sculptures et Installations 1985-1990, exh. cat. (Lausanne: Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts & Ludion, 1991), cover (color ill.), 27 (ill.), n.p. (ills), 106.
Christop Schenker, “Bruce Nauman: Tears of a Clown,” Flash Art 158 (May–June 1991), 126.
Kathy Halbreich, Neal David Benezra, and Joan Simon, Bruce Nauman, exh. cat. (Madrid: El Museo; Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1993), 39, 66, 70, 136 (color ill.).
Neal David Benezra, Joan Simon, and Kathy Halbreich, Bruce Nauman: Exhibition Catalogue and Catalogue Raisonné, first edition, exh. cat. (Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1994), 41, 42, 80, 88, 167 (color ill.), 179, 303 (color ill.), 383.
Toby Kamps, Bruce Nauman: A Guide to the Exhibition, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, July 17-September 25, 1994, exh. guide (Los Angeles: The Museum of Contemporary Art, 1994), 17 (ill.), as cat. 59.

Comparables