On June 19 three sculptures by Ellsworth Kelly — one in bronze, another in mahogany and a third in redwood — will occupy the soaring glass atrium of the Morgan Library & Museum, where they will be on view through Sept. 9.
“They are totems,” Mr. Kelly, who turned 89 on Thursday, said in a telephone interview. “Each one is heavy at the top and smaller on the bottom.” He explained that when he was choosing the sculptures from his studio in Spencertown, N.Y., only works that could stand on their own were eligible; none of his much-loved wall pieces would work in the Morgan’s atrium. And, “I wanted each to be of a different material,” he said.
This is the third summer for contemporary art in the atrium. Last year “The Living Word,” a floating, iridescent cloud of Chinese calligraphy by the Conceptual artist Xu Bing, was on view. Before that were three steel sculptures by Mark di Suvero.
In addition to Mr. Kelly’s sculptures there will be studies, models and drawings that illustrate his working methods and his thinking. “This is an institution dedicated to the creative process,” said William M. Griswold, director of the Morgan.