Impromptu

Artist Helen Torr (American, 1886 - 1967)

Date1929

MediumOil on canvas board

DimensionsFramed: 15 5/16 × 21 1/4 × 7/8 inches (38.89 × 53.98 × 2.22 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: acquired with funds provided by the Oppenstein Brothers Foundation in honor of Laura Fields and the American Art Deaccession Fund

Object number2017.7

SignedInk inscription on canvas board reverse: “Impromptu – 1929 / Helen Torr / Halesite / N.Y.”

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

American Art

Terms

DescriptionAbstract circles, ovals, and lenses of chartreuse yellow, maroon, white, and black are layered throughout this horizontal painting. Within these shapes are passages of defined lines—at the center of one maroon circle are concentric black semicircles; a circle surrounded by short, perpendicular lines contains an oval filled with a black, gray, and white checkerboard pattern; and a black lens at the right of the composition contains a second lens patterned with vertical black lines. The shapes are of varying sizes, and six small maroon circles arranged in two lines dot the lower center of the composition. These dynamic shapes are arranged on a light background that appears to be a layering of the white, chartreuse yellow, and gray colors that appear elsewhere in the painting.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Arthur G. Dove, Helen Torr, New Paintings and Watercolor, An American Place, New York City, March 20–April 15, 1933.

Helen Torr: 1886–1967, Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY, June 3–July 9, 1972; Graham Gallery, New York, July 17–August 18, 1972, no. 13.

In this Gallery, James Graham and Sons, New York, December 1, 1998–January 9, 1999, unnumbered.

Out of the Shadows: Helen Torr, a Retrospective, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY, February 1–April 14, 2003; James Graham & Sons, New York, April 24–June 8, 2003; The Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, June 28–August 17, 2003; The Mitchell Gallery, St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD, September 2–October 26, 2003, unnumbered.

Small Oils, Watercolors and Pastels, Owings Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM, April 18–May 23, 2008, no. 25.

From New York to New Mexico: Masterworks of American Modernism from the Vilcek Foundation Collection, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK, February 8–May 3, 2015; Phoenix Art Museum, June 5–September 6, 2015; Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM, September 25, 2015–January 10, 2016, unnumbered.

American Art Deco: Designing for the People, 1918-1939, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, June 5 2021–September 5 2021; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; July 9 2022–January 8 2023, no cat.

Gallery Label

Helen Torr’s Impromptu dates to the most prolific period in her career. It is, believe it or not, one of Torr’s larger paintings. The small but engaging composition exemplifies a balance of rhythm, control, and formal contrasts. A grid of squares, vertical bars, and ray-like dashes enliven overlapping circular forms and animate the painting. Carefully arranged and floating above the light-colored background, these elements demonstrate Torr’s interest in abstraction.

Provenance

Helen Torr, 1929–1967;

Estate of Helen Torr (no. 190), New York, 1967;

Purchased from the Estate of Helen Torr by May Davis Hill, Philadelphia, by June 3, 1972;

James Graham and Sons, New York;

Owings-Dewey Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM;

Private Collection, TX;

Owings-Dewey Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM, by 2003;

Purchased from Owings-Dewey Fine Art by Mr. Jan (b. 1933) and Mrs. Marica Vilcek, New York, August 12, 2008;

Purchased from the Vilceks, through Jonathan Boos, New York, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, March 9, 2017.

Published References

Eva Ingersoll Gatling, Helen Torr: 1886–1967, exh. cat. (Huntington, NY: Heckscher Museum, 1972), no. 13, pp. 4, 6.

Anne Cohen DiPietro, Out of the Shadows: Helen Torr, a Retrospective, exh. cat. (Huntington, NY: Heckscher Museum, 2003), pl. 26, 22 (repro.)

"Small Oils, Watercolors and Pastels, Owings Fine Art, April 18–May 23, 2008," The Owings Gallery website, accessed March 8, 2017, http://www.owingsgallery.com/exhibitions/small-oils-watercolors-and-pastels2.

William C. Agee and Lewis Kachur, Masterpieces of American Modernism from the Vilcek Collection (New York: Merrell, 2013), 13, 136, 137 (repro.)

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