Vermont (The Autumn) is a mysterious and complex sculpture, named for the state where Ohio-born Jim Dine lived for fifteen years. Two figures, side by side, seem to float, legless. The head of the figure on the right is cast from a tree stump, while the headless figure on the left holds a long, dead branch. These odd and unsettling details, combined with the hatchet at the base of the left-hand figure, seem to add an element of menace, even fear.
The sculpture suggests an image that might arise in a dream—or perhaps a nightmare. In the end, much like a dream, the sculpture might evoke certain feelings but resists any definite interpretation.
Jim Dine (born 1935), Vermont (The Autumn). Bronze, 1984. 80 × 44 × 30 in. (203.2 × 111.8 × 76.2 cm). Gift of Georgia and David K. Welles, 2003.53a–b. On view in the Georgia and David K. Welles Sculpture Garden.
Image Description: A bronze sculpture of two human-seeming figures; the one on the left appears female and the one on the right appears male. Both figures are cut off near the waist and set on thin stands with square bases. The figure on the left has no head or hands and wears a dress or tunic. Resting against their left arm is a bronze cast of a tall, thin, forked stick from a tree. A cast bronze hatchet rests against the base of the stick. The figure on the right is bare-chested. In place of its head is a tree stump. The figure’s right arm is bent with hand palm up and a cloth draped over the forearm. The left arm has no hand.
