Harvard Business School acquired Untitled by Joel Shapiro in 2005 for the permanent collection. Many of Shapiro`s large bronze sculptures, including Untitled, are first made in wood, serving as patterns for the versions cast in bronze. The original wood grain remains in the final bronze casting; the artist`s intention is to reference the entire process of its making. The resulting dynamic arrangements of rectangular forms recall figures moving in space. Shapiro`s works are meant to engage with the surrounding architecture and landscape with a human—if abstracted—presence. His figurative sculptures are also a response to abstract Minimalist works of the 1960s.
