Peacock Waterfall

Artist Pat Steir (American, born 1938)

Date2001

MediumThree-color screenprint

DimensionsSheet: 56 7/16 × 32 inches (143.31 × 81.28 cm)

Credit LineGift of the artist in honor of Martin Friedman and the 75th anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Object number2009.22.2

SignedWritten in pencil: Lower left corner - "AP 5/10" Center - "Peacock Waterfall" Lower right corner - "Pat Steir 2001"

Edition/State/ProofAP 5/10

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DescriptionAt the top center of this print, it appears that a brush, loaded with vivid blue "paint" has been pressed against the surface of the paper. A secondary and similar form is just above it. Blue "paint" flows from both of these forms to the lower edge of the print. The blue shapes and rivulets of "paint" are set against a bright red ground.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Pat Steir

American, born 1938

Peacock Waterfall, 2001

Three-color screenprint

Flinging and pouring paint, Pat Steir captures the

range of gravity’s effects in Peacock Waterfall. This work

is both an illusionistic image of a waterfall and a physical

record of liquid following the force of gravity. Steir uses

the liquidity of paint to combine gesture, composition

and image.

Steir’s use of water has universal meaning representing

the unconscious, the feminine, life, abundance

and flow. Peacock Waterfall expresses the generative

force of the cosmos.

Gift of the artist in honor of Martin Friedman and the 75th anniversary of

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2009.22.2

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