ticketsMember | Make a donation

Untitled (Hand Circle)

Bruce Nauman American
1996
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Nauman’s Untitled (Hand Circle) exploits the expressive potential of the fragment, specifically the hand. In keeping with his irreverent sensibility, the hands in Nauman’s work interlock to make a lewd gesture signifying sexual intercourse, possibly a mocking reference to the notion of a "circle of life." Here, the artist explores not only nonverbal communication but also the potential for limitless repetition that casting offers.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Untitled (Hand Circle)
  • Artist: Bruce Nauman (American, born Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1941)
  • Date: 1996
  • Geography: Country of Origin USA
  • Medium: Phosphorous bronze, silver solder, copper, phosphorous bronze wire and sandblasted steel cables
  • Dimensions: 5 × 27 1/2 × 29 in. (12.7 × 69.9 × 73.7 cm)
    Crated: 16 × 39 × 37 in. (40.6 × 99.1 × 94 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Private collection, courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Bruce Nauman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Image courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art