Alan Saret

Alan Saret
Born(1944-12-25)December 25, 1944
New York City, U.S.
DiedMay 26, 2026(2026-05-26) (aged 81)
New York City, U.S.
Known forSculpture
MovementPostminimalism
Websitealan-saret.com

Alan Saret (December 25, 1944 – May 26, 2026) was an American sculptor, draftsman and installation artist, best known for his Postminimalist wire sculptures and drawings. He was based in Brooklyn, New York.

Early life and education

Saret was born in New York City on December 25, 1944. He graduated from Cornell University in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in architecture. During post-graduate study at Hunter College from 1966 to 1968, he met sculptor and major Minimalist theorist, Robert Morris, who studied Art History there a few years earlier. As Saret suggested on his website, his connection with Morris inspired a deeper investigation of Minimalism and later Process Art.

Career

Saret was an important figure of the Soho alternative art scene in the late 1960s and 1970s, as well as in the history of systems art, process art, generative art, and post-conceptual art. He lived in India from 1971 to 1974; the metaphysical and spiritual aspects of Indian art and culture inspired his work after his return to the United States. Later, he moved to Harrison, Arkansas, in 1980, before returning to New York in the late 1980s. During this time, Saret removed himself from the commercial art world.

Saret's work is held in the permanent collections of several museums, including the Princeton University Art Museum, the Morgan Library and Museum, the Kemper Art Museum, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the BAMPFA, the Blanton Museum of Art, the Harvard Art Museums, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Glenstone, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Works

Saret embraced the response to Minimalism, "anti-form," which embraces non-figurative art in part with the physical characteristics of the material used, in spite of the rigid rules. He also held the opinion that art should have a natural and unbecoming form while keeping a minimal structure. His sculptures were often made with wires of various colors, textures, and thicknesses. Other materials that are common in these sculptures are rubber, mesh, cloth, sulfur, ribbons, and wood. Most, but not all, of his works tend to be installed on the floor or suspended from the ceiling. The names of his pieces suggest themes of nature, with words like "jungle", "autumn," "air," and "forest".

Death

Saret died in New York City on May 26, 2026, at the age of 81.

References

  1. ↑ "Haah (2013-13)". artmuseum.princeton.edu. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Alan Saret". www.artnet.com. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Kristine Stiles & Peter Selz, Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles) University of California Press 2012, p. 256
  4. 1 2 "Forest Close | Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art". museum.cornell.edu. Archived from the original on August 27, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Lipski, Donald; MacDonald, Chris; Monti, John; Brooklyn Museum, eds. (1985). Working in Brooklyn: sculpture; Donald Lipski, Chris MacDonald, John Monti, ...; October 18, 1985 - January 6, 1986. New York, NY: Brooklyn Museum. ISBN 978-0-87273-102-8.
  6. 1 2 Marshall, Richard; Whitney Museum of American Art, eds. (1981). Developments in recent sculpture: publ. in conjunction with an exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, July 22 - September 27, 1981. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art. ISBN 978-0-87427-033-4.
  7. 1 2 Saret, Alan (2019). "Alan Saret". About. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  8. ↑ Kennedy, Randy (April 28, 2020). "Tina Girouard, Experimental Artist in 1970s SoHo, Dies at 73". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Haah (2013-13)". artmuseum.princeton.edu. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  10. 1 2 "Blanton Museum of Art - Alan Saret". collection.blantonmuseum.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 Yun, Michelle (October 27, 2011). "Saret, Alan". Grove Art Online. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Alan Saret". The Morgan Library & Museum. July 20, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Artwork Detail | Kemper Art Museum". www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Exchange: Open Center Rising". exchange.umma.umich.edu. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Queen's Mesh". High Museum of Art. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Brooklyn Museum". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Alan Saret". whitney.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Alan Saret | 8/12". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Alan Saret / MATRIX 18 | BAMPFA". bampfa.org. December 22, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  20. ↑ Harvard. "Harvard Art Museums". harvardartmuseums.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  21. ↑ "ES Kanda Glen Trace | Denver Art Museum". www.denverartmuseum.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Untitled". www.dia.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Lead Cable Gold Crown | Albright-Knox". www.albrightknox.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Alan Saret, The Tricne Investiture, 1970". MCA. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Alan Saret". www.glenstone.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  26. ↑ "In the Love of Geometry's Fountain". www.moca.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  27. ↑ "7 Objects/69". Saint Louis Art Museum. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Alan Saret. Jack Common Spring Entering. 1983 | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  29. ↑ Saret, Alan. "Circle Branch Circle". The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  30. ↑ "Wave Hill – Works – Alan Saret – Artists – eMuseum". collection.themodern.org. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  31. ↑ Greenberger, Alex (May 28, 2026). "Alan Saret, 'Anti-Form' Artist Known for His Wire Sculptures, Dies at 81". ARTnews.com. Retrieved May 29, 2026.