Cradle 1967

Richard Artschwager’s “Cradle” presents us with a paradox: a form promising safety and nurture, rendered in cold, hard wood. The cradle, universally a symbol of infancy and protection, echoes the ancient motifs of the mother goddess cradling her child. Think of Isis with Horus, a symbol of hope and renewal stretching back millennia. Yet, here, the comforting curves are gone, replaced by stark, unyielding lines. This recalls the rigid forms of early modernist furniture, stripping away ornamentation to reveal an almost unsettling simplicity. Perhaps this reflects a collective anxiety, a subconscious fear of the vulnerabilities inherent in new life? The cradle, devoid of softness, becomes a vessel not of comfort, but of existential contemplation. Like a recurring dream, the image of the cradle persists, its meaning shifting with each new dawn, always echoing the fundamental human experiences of birth, care, and the passage of time.