Kiff Slemmons (1944, USA) 

Roald Amundsen (Hands of the Heroes Series)
ca 1987-1991
Silver and acrylic; ht. 3.5, wd. 3 in.

Mija Riedel's essay about Kiff Slemmons "Hands of the Heroes" series begins with a quote by Carl Jung, "Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain." This is one of the most ambitious and intellectually satisfying series in American studio jewelry, fifty portraits of history-changing individuals of the twentieth century, less about celebrity than about achievement. The subject of this brooch is Roald Amundsen, the intrepid polar explorer seen alongside in a photograph from 1913. He lead the first Antarctic expedition to the South Pole between 1910 and 1912, was the first to reach both the North and South Pole and to traverse the Northwest Passage. Amundsen was a hard-core pragmatist and wrote: "the way in which the expedition is equipped – the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order – luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck." Nonetheless, he disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission. The acrylic in this piece is icy and seems shattered as if by a strong impact of some kind, the fingers point north with a globe showing both poles in silver in the palm of Amundsen's hand. This series, Riedel writes, "suggests a still larger whole, which is spacious enough to accommodate the viewers' thoughts."

Exhibited: CDK Gallery New York, 1989.

References: Riedel, Mija. Hands of the Heroes. Chicago: Slemmons 2009. The work is illustrated on page 15.

Also see David Thomson, Scott. Shackleton and Amundsen: Ambition and Tragedy in the Antarctic, New York: Basic Books, 2002.

Excellent original condition.