ROBERT KLIPPEL SCULPTURE-IN-THE-LANDSCAPE

ot long ago I encountered the sculpture (1965–68) in the exhibition ‘Assembled: The Art of Robert Klippel’ at TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria. It was set centrally in the space, backlit by a large window on the far wall. By some magic optical illusion, I saw not as 2.7 metres high in the gallery but outside, as a towering work dominating the TarraWarra landscape. A fleeting and enthralling glimpse which rekindled in my mind Klippel’s preoccupation over fifty years with the notion of ‘sculpture-in-the-landscape.’ This preoccupation unfurled in a fascinating way. Up to the time of what I term his ‘Great Wood Sculptures’ of 1987, Klippel had only completed two sculptures directly derived from his ‘sculpture-in-the-landscape’ obsession. Only two,