Object number1952.3.30

Grasses

Date1951

Artist Norman Lewis (American, 1909-1979)

CultureAmerican

MediumWatercolor and ink with wash on cream wove paper

DimensionsSheet: 19 x 24 in. (48.3 x 61 cm)
Matted: 22 1/16 x 27 15/16 in. (56 x 71 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd (Blanchette Hooker, class of 1931)

On View

Not on view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

Drawings and Watercolors

SignedOn recto, signed lower right in pencil: Norman Lewis

InscribedOn recto, by artist, lower right in pencil: - '51; on verso, likely by artist, upper left corner: 125 / 3- 36 - #10 / grasses

Vassar Exhibitions

Catching Light: European and American Watercolors from the Permanent Collection

Exhibition HistoryCatching Light: European and American Watercolors from the Permanent Collection, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, May 8 - July 26, 2009

Label TextThe vital tradition of abstract painting by Black artists can be traced to Norman Lewis, who occupies a unique and important place in the history of American art. Born in Harlem in 1909 to parents from Bermuda, Lewis's career and trajectory took him from the Harlem Renaissance to New Deal-era social realism to postwar abstraction. Grasses, with its subtle rhythms of form and color, is a characteristic work from the early 1950s. The smoky, ethereal forms seem to emerge from the negative space of the paper, confusing distinctions of foreground and background. Realized with a limited palette of earthy browns and greens, this work explores the suggestive space between abstraction and representation. The grasses might be flickering licks of flame, with spirals defining the upward blades. A horizontal band suggests what might be a shoreline; the patterns hinting at marshy reflections. John P. Murphy Philip and Lynn Strauss Curator of Prints and Drawings

DescriptionA horizontal band of russet and dark green gradients with six vertical shoots with short, single stroke leaves alternating from one side to another. All hard lines and forms are encapsulated by shading.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu