Hermientas de la Vida

Charles Fine, 1987

This bronze and stone scultpure is located at the Newquist Sculpture Court at the Visual Art Center. It was a gift of Thomas W. Knaup.

Herramientas de la Vida (The Tools of Life) was created for Fine’s 1987 one-person exhibition at Ace Gallery in Los Angeles. This sculpture is a companion to a sculpture of the same name currently owned by the Orange County Museum of Art, a gift of Mandy and Cliff Einstein. Originally purchased by Louise and Richard Newquist, this version of Herramientas de la Vida was given to the university by Thomas Knaup.

Charles Fine (1951– ) established himself as a painter in the 1980s. His usually monochromatic, ostensibly abstract paintings are noted for layered, richly textured surfaces; he often uses such materials as oil, encaustic, and resin. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fine began to create sculptures. Like Herramientas de la Vida, many of his works are rife with totemic and animistic allusions.Fine currently resides in Santa Monica and is represented by Diane Rosenstein gallery.