Plover by the Sea
Artist
Morris Graves
(American, 1910 - 2001)
Date1943
MediumWatercolor, opaque watercolor, vine charcoal, and tempera color on paper
DimensionsUnframed: 25 1/8 × 30 3/8 inches (63.82 × 77.15 cm)
Framed: 28 5/8 × 33 7/8 × 1 3/4 inches (72.71 × 86.04 × 4.45 cm)
Framed: 28 5/8 × 33 7/8 × 1 3/4 inches (72.71 × 86.04 × 4.45 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Frederic James through the Friends of Art
Object number55-90
SignedNone.
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionOn thin blue-black ground, long-necked and -billed bird, black and white, facing left, wings raised. Paper considerably creased; approximately one-inch margin washed in umber and gray.Gallery LabelMorris Graves relied on techniques such as staining and wrinkling his paper and layering his media in order to achieve his desired overall effect. In his densely soaked watercolors from the early 1940s, such as Plover by the Sea, he sought to convey spiritual awareness and religious meaning through natural themes. Just after creating this piece, Graves asserted, "Painting is no longer painting but is increasingly the concentrated moments of FLEETING clarity."
Copyright© Morris Graves Foundation
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