Dorothy Sturm (American/Tennessee, 1910-1988), untitled glass and mixed media assemblage, circa 1960-1965. The work consists of 137 total panes of glass of varying colors and textures, some enhanced with a collage of appliqued glass, fabric and other materials, all fitted into four wooden sections with 36 openings. Unsigned. 55" x 115 1/2" x 4 3/4".

Biography: Dorothy Sturm was born in Memphis. At 19 she moved to New York City where she studied at the Grand Central School of Art, the Art Students League, and Columbia University. Sturm moved back to Memphis in 1934, and the next year she became a founding faculty member at the Memphis Academy of Art [later the Memphis College of Art]. In her early career, Sturm focused on creating collages, drawings, and mixed media paintings on paper, and she taught classes on the same subjects. To supplement her income, she also began working for the Binswanger Glass Company in the mid-1950s.

At Binswanger, Sturm learned the basics of stained-glass construction, and it was also during this time that she began experimenting with enameling, both of which became an important part of her work in abstract expressionism design over the next two decades. Her art is in numerous collections including the American Embassy in Paris, the Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art in Washington, DC; the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, AR; Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN; Charleston Museum in Charleston, WV; The Chicago Art Institute in Chicago, IL; the Jean DeMenil Collection in Paris, the First Tennessee Heritage Collection, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and the National Ornamental Metal Museum (Source: Tennessee Arts Commission).

PROVENANCE: Deaccessioned from the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

7 of the original glass panes are absent. Approximately a half dozen panes have been remounted/stabilized. Includes a box of extra glass panes, most broken, 3 intact, which may or may not be original to the work.