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Herringbone Floor

Print
2001 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Rachel Whiteread takes casts of furniture and even whole buildings, transforming into solid form the spaces in or around the objects of daily life. Such pieces have a strong metaphysical presence, often evoking a sense of history, of previous lives or deaths in particular spaces. Her sculpture is usually on a large scale; she famously cast a terraced house in the East End of London – a venture that won her the Turner Prize in 1993.

The scale of Herringbone Floor is modest by comparison, yet conveys similar notions about space, history, presence and absence. The artist has used the pattern of a wooden-block floor as a medium for expressing the 'space' between the blocks.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleHerringbone Floor (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Laser-cut relief, birch plywood
Brief description
'Herringbone Floor', Laser-cut relief in birch plywood, Rachel Whiteread, England, 2001. Signed and dated by the artist, one of an edition of 450.
Physical description
Laser-cut relief in 0.8mm Finnish birch plywood based on a drawing of, and tracing the lines of, a parquet floor - forming a grid-like pattern of interlocking, irregular rectangles. The artist has used a pattern made of wood as a medium for expressing the 'space' between the blocks. Signed and dated by the artist, one of an edition of 450.
Dimensions
  • Framed size height: 51.8cm
  • Framed size width: 45.5cm
  • Cut surface height: 35.3cm
  • Cut surface width: 29.5cm
  • With frame height: 51.5cm
  • With frame width: 45cm
The work was sold by the publisher in a bespoke frame selected by the artist.
Production typeLimited edition
Copy number
15/450
Marks and inscriptions
  • RW (Monogram; on mount, on lower right; pencil; 2001)
  • 15/450 (maker's mark; on mount on lower right; pencil)
  • Herringbone Floor (picture title; on mount, lower left; pencil)
  • 2001 (Date; on mount, lower left; pencil)
Gallery label
(11/09/2017)
Whiteread is a sculptor, best known for her casts of the spaces inside domestic objects and rooms. To make this multiple, her drawing of a parquet floor was transferred to a sheet of birch plywood which was then cut away by laser, leaving only lines. These represent the spaces between the wooden floor tiles. The unevenness of the original drawing was intended to suggest the wear and tear of a lived-in space.
Credit line
Purchased through the Julie and Robert Breckman Print Fund
Production
British Museum Department of Prints and Drawings hold a drawing similar to the 'Herringbone Floor': 'Pink', 1993, pen, ink and gouache on graph paper, 455 x 610mm, PD 2004-6-1-45.
The Acquisition RF (2001/606) includes a postcard image of this drawing.

Reason For Production: Retail
Subjects depicted
Summary
Rachel Whiteread takes casts of furniture and even whole buildings, transforming into solid form the spaces in or around the objects of daily life. Such pieces have a strong metaphysical presence, often evoking a sense of history, of previous lives or deaths in particular spaces. Her sculpture is usually on a large scale; she famously cast a terraced house in the East End of London – a venture that won her the Turner Prize in 1993.

The scale of Herringbone Floor is modest by comparison, yet conveys similar notions about space, history, presence and absence. The artist has used the pattern of a wooden-block floor as a medium for expressing the 'space' between the blocks.
Collection
Accession number
E.20-2002

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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