Birth

Napoleon Veloso Abueva, artist

1930–2018

Birth, circa 1958

Where object was made: Philippines

Material/technique: bamboo

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Length (Height x Width x Length): 9.5 x 10 x 77 cm
Object Height/Width/Length (Height x Width x Length): 3 3/4 x 3 15/16 x 30 5/16 in

Credit line: Gift of N.V. Abueva

Accession number: 1960.0064

Not on display

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Lauded as one of the leading modern sculptors in the Philippines, Napoleon Abueva was born on the picturesque island province of Bohol. A childhood love of working with his hands led Abueva to study sculpture at the University of the Philippines, and eventually led him to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Kansas. It was during his stateside studies, while attempting to make a floating coffin to honor his stillborn sister, that he developed what would become his “buoyant” sculptures. These works are intended to be displayed as if emerging from water. Abueva carved Birth from two interlocking pieces of bamboo after returning to the Philippines in 1959. It appears to float on water like other works in his buoyant series.