{"secondaryobjectnumber":"","periodterms":[],"creditline":"Museum purchase, Kathleen Compton Sherrerd Fund for Acquisitions in American Art","caption":"John Baldessari (1931–2020; born National City, CA; active Los Angeles, CA), Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line (Best of Thirty-Six Attempts), 1973. Offset lithographs; 24.1 × 32.1 cm, 35.6 × 43.2 cm (frame). 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Offset lithographs; 24.1 × 32.1 cm, 35.6 × 43.2 cm (frame). Museum purchase, Kathleen Compton Sherrerd Fund for Acquisitions in American Art (2019-101.1-.12)","displaydate":"1973","medium":"Offset lithographs","media":[{"id":220968,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/Baldessari_grid","isprimary":0,"rank":40,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"acquisition meeting image"},{"id":222564,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36035","isprimary":0,"rank":13,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222565,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36036","isprimary":0,"rank":14,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222566,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36037","isprimary":0,"rank":15,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222567,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36038","isprimary":0,"rank":9,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222568,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36039","isprimary":0,"rank":11,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222569,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36040","isprimary":0,"rank":7,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222570,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36041","isprimary":0,"rank":12,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222571,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36042","isprimary":0,"rank":10,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222572,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36043","isprimary":0,"rank":3,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222573,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36044","isprimary":0,"rank":2,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222574,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36045","isprimary":0,"rank":4,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222575,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36046","isprimary":0,"rank":8,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222576,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36047","isprimary":0,"rank":6,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222577,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36048","isprimary":0,"rank":5,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":222578,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU_E_2019_36049","isprimary":0,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":224825,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/2019-101_1-12","isprimary":1,"rank":16,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":"Restricted","caption":"PUAM photo"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"Photography","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199324,"term":"Art Since 1945","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199325,"term":"North American Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199326,"term":"Photography","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199327,"term":"Prints and Drawings","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1945-present","dateend":1973,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line (Best of Thirty-Six Attempts)","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":"© John Baldessari","objectnumber":"2019-101.1-.12","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"The artist. [Lee Gallery, Winchester, MA]; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, 2019. ","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"For this work, Baldessari threw three balls at once, trying to line them up in midair, while his then-wife, Carol Wixom, took pictures. Although he endeavored to make each attempt identical, no two photographs are the same due to unavoidable differences in his technique and uncontrollable variables such as changes in wind speed. Baldessari made thirty-six attempts—the number of exposures on a standard 35 mm film roll—and chose the twelve shots he considered most successful. Through this process, he documented the unbridgeable divide between the conception of an artistic idea and its execution, which is inevitably affected by the vagaries of chance.","remarks":"MM rotation January 2020"}],"datebegin":1973,"sortnumber":"2019  101     1  12","published_date":"2026-04-15 02:01:17.227137","objectid":135589,"dimensions":"24.1 × 32.1 cm (9 1/2 × 12 5/8 in.)\r\nframe: 35.6 × 43.2 cm (14 × 17 in.)","on_view":true}