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Child's Wheelbarrow

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Decorative Art, 20th-Century Decorative Arts, 4th Floor

The child's wheelbarrow is based on a toy that Gerrit Rietveld made in 1923 for the son of J. J. P. Oud, the owner of the armchair also displayed here. The wheelbarrow exemplifies the stylistic characteristics of De Stijl: it is composed of elemental geometric forms—rectangular planes, elongated cylinders, and a disk for the wheel—painted in primary colors and made of inexpensive wood. Revived interest in Rietveld in the mid-twentieth century led to this later production of the wheelbarrow.

MEDIUM Wood. pigment, metal
  • Place Made: Netherlands
  • DATES designed 1923; made 1958
    DIMENSIONS 13 × 27 1/2 × 11 in. (33 × 69.9 × 27.9 cm) display measurement: 13 × 11 × 29 in. (33 × 27.9 × 73.7 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 2001.87
    CREDIT LINE Marie Bernice Bitzer Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Large flat red wheel with two long white painted handle rods with black ends extending from axel that support main section of barrel with yellow painted triangular sides and black rectangular bottom.
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Decorative Art, 20th-Century Decorative Arts, 4th Floor
    CAPTION Gerrit Th. Rietveld (Dutch, 1888–1964). Child's Wheelbarrow, designed 1923; made 1958. Wood. pigment, metal, 13 × 27 1/2 × 11 in. (33 × 69.9 × 27.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Marie Bernice Bitzer Fund, 2001.87. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.2001.87_threequarter_back.jpg)
    IMAGE CUR.2001.87_threequarter_back.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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    Gerrit Th. Rietveld (Dutch, 1888–1964). <em>Child's Wheelbarrow</em>, designed 1923; made 1958. Wood. pigment, metal, 13 × 27 1/2 × 11 in. (33 × 69.9 × 27.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Marie Bernice Bitzer Fund, 2001.87. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.2001.87_threequarter_back.jpg)