Large Red Sphere, 2002/10
Information about the artwork
- MaterialGranite
- DimensionsØ 260 cm
- Year of acquisition2006
- Inventory numberUAB 666
- On viewOn view
- CopyrightPhoto: Haydar Koyupinar, Museum Brandhorst, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
© Estate of Walter De Maria
More about the artwork
“Every good work of art should have at least ten meanings,” said the artist Walter De Maria. His work “Large Red Sphere” has entered into dialogue with the “Türkentor” since 2010. The sphere of red granite—2.60 meters in diameter, weighing 25 tons—can be understood as a symbol of the earth and the cosmos, and dominates the sparse space. Its mirrored surface underscores the sublimity of the ideal primordial form. The large window connects the experience of silence with the living urban space—and history with the present.
The “Türkentor” (Turks’ Gate) is the former entrance gate of the Prinz-Arnulf-Kaserne, also known as the “Türkenkaserne” (Turks’ Barracks). The name of the military complex, built in 1826, refers to prisoners of war who were forcibly brought to Bavaria from the Ottoman Empire in the late seventeenth century. During the Second World War, Allied air raids destroyed the complex. The “Türkentor,” its sole surviving remnant, was renovated between 2008 and 2010 by the architecture practice Sauerbruch Hutton, which simultaneously oversaw the construction of the new Museum Brandhorst. The renovation was made possible by the Stiftung Pinakothek der Moderne.
