{{Short description|American artist (1944–2026)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox artist | name = Alan Saret | image = Alan-saret 1970 standing in front of Four Part Folding Glade sculpture at Spring Street Studio.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|12|25}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2026|05|26|1944|12|25}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | nationality = | spouse = | field = Sculpture | movement = Postminimalism | patrons = | awards = | elected = | website = {{URL|alan-saret.com}} }}
'''Alan Saret''' (December 25, 1944 – May 26, 2026) was an American sculptor, draftsman and installation artist, best known for his Postminimalist wire sculptures and drawings.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Haah (2013-13) |url=https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/86377 |access-date=2021-03-04 |website=artmuseum.princeton.edu |language=en}}</ref> He was based in Brooklyn, New York.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":7">Kristine Stiles & Peter Selz, ''Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings'' (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles) University of California Press 2012, p. 256</ref>
== Early life and education == Saret was born in New York City on December 25, 1944.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=Alan Saret |url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/alan-saret/biography-links |access-date=2026-02-23 |website=www.artnet.com}}</ref> He graduated from Cornell University in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in architecture.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |title=Forest Close {{!}} Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art |url=https://museum.cornell.edu/collections/modern-contemporary/sculpture/forest-close |access-date=2021-03-04 |website=museum.cornell.edu}}</ref> During post-graduate study at Hunter College from 1966 to 1968, he met sculptor and major Minimalist theorist, Robert Morris, who studied Art History there a few years earlier.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |title=Working in Brooklyn: sculpture ; Donald Lipski, Chris MacDonald, John Monti, ... ; October 18, 1985 - January 6, 1986 |date=1985 |publisher=Brooklyn Museum |isbn=978-0-87273-102-8 |editor-last=Lipski |editor-first=Donald |location=New York, NY |editor-last2=MacDonald |editor-first2=Chris |editor-last3=Monti |editor-first3=John |editor-last4=Brooklyn Museum}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |title=Developments in recent sculpture: publ. in conjunction with an exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, July 22 - September 27, 1981 |date=1981 |publisher=Whitney Museum of American Art |isbn=978-0-87427-033-4 |editor-last=Marshall |editor-first=Richard |location=New York |editor-last2=Whitney Museum of American Art}}</ref> As Saret suggested on his website, his connection with Morris inspired a deeper investigation of Minimalism and later Process Art.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Saret |first=Alan |date=2019 |title=Alan Saret |url=https://alan-saret.com/about.html |url-status=live |access-date=October 23, 2025 |website=About}}</ref>
== Career == Saret was an important figure of the Soho alternative art scene in the late 1960s and 1970s,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Randy |date=2020-04-28 |title=Tina Girouard, Experimental Artist in 1970s SoHo, Dies at 73 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/arts/tina-girouard-dead.html |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> as well as in the history of systems art, process art, generative art, and post-conceptual art.<ref name=":5" /> He lived in India from 1971 to 1974; the metaphysical and spiritual aspects of Indian art and culture inspired his work after his return to the United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Haah (2013-13) |url=https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/86377 |access-date=2021-03-04 |website=artmuseum.princeton.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Blanton Museum of Art - Alan Saret|url=https://collection.blantonmuseum.org/artist-maker/info/8965|access-date=2021-03-04|website=collection.blantonmuseum.org}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> Later, he moved to Harrison, Arkansas, in 1980, before returning to New York in the late 1980s.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> During this time, Saret removed himself from the commercial art world.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Yun |first=Michelle |date=October 27, 2011 |title=Saret, Alan. |url=https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7002214205. |url-status=live |access-date=October 10, 2025 |website=Grove Art Online}}</ref>
Saret's work is held in the permanent collections of several museums, including the Princeton University Art Museum,<ref name=":0" /> the Morgan Library and Museum,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-07-20|title=Alan Saret|url=https://www.themorgan.org/drawings/item/391996|access-date=2021-03-04|website=The Morgan Library & Museum|language=en}}</ref> the Kemper Art Museum,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Artwork Detail {{!}} Kemper Art Museum|url=https://www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/collection/explore/artwork/1256|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu}}</ref> the University of Michigan Museum of Art,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Exchange: Open Center Rising|url=https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/40314/view|access-date=2021-03-04|website=exchange.umma.umich.edu}}</ref> the High Museum of Art,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen's Mesh|url=https://high.org/collections/queens-mesh/|access-date=2021-03-04|website=High Museum of Art|language=en-US}}</ref> the Brooklyn Museum,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brooklyn Museum|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/111762|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.brooklynmuseum.org}}</ref> the Whitney Museum of American Art,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alan Saret|url=https://whitney.org/artists/1154|access-date=2021-03-04|website=whitney.org|language=en}}</ref> the Metropolitan Museum of Art,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/492303|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.metmuseum.org |title=Alan Saret | 8/12 }}</ref> the BAMPFA,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alan Saret / MATRIX 18 {{!}} BAMPFA|url=https://bampfa.org/program/alan-saret-matrix-18|access-date=2021-03-04|website=bampfa.org|date=22 December 2014 }}</ref> the Blanton Museum of Art,<ref name=":2" /> the Harvard Art Museums,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harvard|title=Harvard Art Museums|url=https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/person/28493|access-date=2021-03-04|website=harvardartmuseums.org|language=en}}</ref> the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Forest Close {{!}} Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art |url=https://museum.cornell.edu/collections/modern-contemporary/sculpture/forest-close |access-date=2021-03-04 |website=museum.cornell.edu}}</ref> the Denver Art Museum,<ref>{{Cite web|title=ES Kanda Glen Trace {{!}} Denver Art Museum|url=https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/2015.232|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.denverartmuseum.org}}</ref> the Detroit Institute of Arts,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Untitled|url=https://www.dia.org/art/collection/object/untitled-60287|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.dia.org|language=en}}</ref> the Albright-Knox Art Gallery,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lead Cable Gold Crown {{!}} Albright-Knox|url=https://www.albrightknox.org/artworks/198314-lead-cable-gold-crown|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.albrightknox.org}}</ref> the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alan Saret, The Tricne Investiture, 1970|url=https://mcachicago.org/Collection/Items/1970/Alan-Saret-The-Tricne-Investiture-1970|access-date=2021-03-04|website=MCA|language=en}}</ref> the Glenstone,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alan Saret|url=https://www.glenstone.org/artist/alan-saret/|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.glenstone.org|language=en-US}}</ref> the Museum of Contemporary Art,<ref>{{Cite web|title=In the Love of Geometry's Fountain|url=https://www.moca.org/collection/work/in-the-love-of-geometrys-fountain|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.moca.org}}</ref> the Saint Louis Art Museum,<ref>{{Cite web|title=7 Objects/69|url=https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/62758/|access-date=2021-03-04|website=Saint Louis Art Museum|language=en-US}}</ref> the Museum of Modern Art,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alan Saret. Jack Common Spring Entering. 1983 {{!}} MoMA|url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/36652|access-date=2021-03-04|website=The Museum of Modern Art|language=en}}</ref> the Art Institute of Chicago,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Saret|first=Alan|title=Circle Branch Circle|url=https://www.artic.edu/artworks/182453/circle-branch-circle|access-date=2021-03-04|website=The Art Institute of Chicago|language=en}}</ref> and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wave Hill – Works – Alan Saret – Artists – eMuseum|url=https://collection.themodern.org/objects/2727/wave-hill;jsessionid=D5E0BA0062261482E595F7D9A71B1548|access-date=2021-03-04|website=collection.themodern.org|language=en}}</ref>
== Works == Saret embraced the response to Minimalism, "anti-form," which embraces non-figurative art in part with the physical characteristics of the material used, in spite of the rigid rules. He also held the opinion that art should have a natural and unbecoming form while keeping a minimal structure.<ref name=":6" /> His sculptures were often made with wires of various colors, textures, and thicknesses. Other materials that are common in these sculptures are rubber, mesh, cloth, sulfur, ribbons, and wood. Most, but not all, of his works tend to be installed on the floor or suspended from the ceiling.<ref name=":12" /> The names of his pieces suggest themes of nature, with words like "jungle", "autumn," "air," and "forest".<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":3" />
== Death == Saret died in New York City on May 26, 2026, at the age of 81.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greenberger |first=Alex |date=2026-05-28 |title=Alan Saret, 'Anti-Form' Artist Known for His Wire Sculptures, Dies at 81 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/alan-saret-sculptor-dead-1234787789/ |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=ARTnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://alan-saret.com/ Official website] * [http://www.artnet.com/artists/alan-saret/biography-links Artnet bio]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saret, Alan}} Category:1944 births Category:2026 deaths Category:American postmodern artists Category:Sculptors from New York (state) Category:American installation artists Category:American conceptual artists Category:Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni Category:American draughtsmen Category:20th-century American sculptors Category:20th-century American male artists Category:21st-century American sculptors
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