Circle of Sticks

Richard Long b.1945

T01783 Circle of Sticks 1973

Not inscribed.
76 sticks, each approximately xi in. long and in. in diameter, arranged in a circle 22 ft. in diameter, to be exhibited in a space approximately 30 ft. square. Overall dimensions: x 264 x 264 (0.7 x 671 x 671).
Purchased from the artist through Galerie Konrad Fischer (Grant-in-Aid) 1973.

The following information has been approved by the artist.

‘Circle of Sticks’ was made in October 1973 for a space in the Tate Gallery selected by the artist but its display is not confined to this particular room (the present Gallery 20)—other suitable spaces may also be used.

The sticks are the same kind as those Long used in his first public exhibition at the Galerie Konrad Fischer in Düsseldorf in 1968. They come from Leigh Woods, Bristol (where the artist lives). The invitation card for that exhibition shows a photograph of these woods with the Clifton Suspension Bridge in the background. In the foreground is a figure with a bicycle on the towpath beside the River Avon. A more recent photograph of the artist’s source of sticks was reproduced in the catalogue of Long’s one-man show at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (December 1973–January 1974), and entitled ‘Along the towpath getting sticks’.

Long’s first use of sticks of this kind dates from spring 1967. He has made only one other work composed of a single circle of sticks.

‘Circle of Sticks’ is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed and dated by the artist.

Published in The Tate Gallery Report 1972–1974, London 1975.