The Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden
Artist
Jim Dine
(born 1935)
Date2003
MediumStainless steel and painted bronze
Dimensions82 x 120 x 24 in. (208.3 x 304.8 x 61 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.9
Accession number
2010.9
On View
On viewLabel TextIn The Garden of Eden, Jim Dine arranged brightly colored gardening tools alongside small headless replicas of the iconic Venus de Milo statue from ancient Greece. The tools refer to the artist’s childhood, a time when his grandfather owned a hardware store. These are bronze castes of real tools that he painted to suggest a joyful past.
The Venus statues are a recurring theme for the artist. Upon first discovering a Venus de Milo replica, Dine considered it “a timeless classical figure which held the memory of its magnificence even it is reduced size.” In this way, like the tools, these statues become a touchstone for idealized memories. Inspired by how we often embellish the past, Dine’s work evokes nostalgia as an Eden built in the mind, constructed through the passing of time.
Inscribedunderside: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 [each numbered consecutively]
