Jonathan Prince

Architecture Imitates Art at Jonathan Prince’s Berkshire County Home

By Nancy Keates

From one angle, Jonathan Prince's white, circa-1900 farmhouse, reached through an arch of maple trees, blends perfectly into rural Berkshire County's winding roads, stone walls, barns and summer camps.

But get closer, and it is clear somthing is unusual: The neatly trimmed yard, irrigated to stay emerald green, is mowed in different directions, creating a sense of movement. A long path to the kitchen door has piecces of bluestone jetting off to the side at different lengths, leaving dark lines that look like shadows in the grass. And the pristine rectangular swiming pool is a preternatural deep blue, flickering with light reflectiing off what appear to be pebbles.

The intended effect is "numinius" or mystical, says Mr. Prince, a 67 year-old sculptor, whose latest work, a series called "Shatter" currently displayed at Christie's Sculpture Garden in New York, consists of smooth steel water pipes, opened up to reveal reflective, highly polished stainless steel insides resembling broken glass. Three of Mr. Prince's sculptures are currently on sale at Christie's for $675,000 each. A work he sold for $350,000 called "Vestigial Block" is on permanent display at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University in East Lansing, a donaton of Julie and Edward J. Minskoff.

Shatter

September 10 - November 10, 2019

Shatter is an exhibition of New York-born sculptor Jonathan Prince’s work, his second viewing at Christie’s Sculpture Garden on Madison Avenue. Drawing upon his extensive knowledge of nature, science and the human body, Prince creates monumental and large-scale works of art out of materials such as stainless steel, CorTen steel, aluminium, bronze and granite. Prince’s works feature in notable public and private collections, including The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University and The Joseph M. Cohen Family Collection, and has been shown across the United States, in addition to his 2012 Liquid State series exhibition at Christie’s Sculpture Garden. See video.

Christie’s Sculpture Garden
535 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022