Image

The same painting, but in focus. The lighting is warmer.
Low-resolution photograph of an abstract painting composed of swathes of vibrant greens, yellows and reds, which are overlaid by streaks of reds, blues, and black lines forming several circular shapes.
The same painting, but in lower resolution, brighter lighting, and a bit lopsided. A horizontal color reference stick is placed at the painting's top edge.
Low-resolution photograph of an abstract painting composed of swathes of vibrant greens, yellows and reds, which are overlaid by streaks of reds, blues, and black lines forming several circular shapes.
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Grace Hartigan

Homage to Matisse
Now On View

Description

Maker

Grace Hartigan (American, 1922-2008)

Title

Homage to Matisse

Year

1955

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

null, oil paint

Supports

Dimensions

183.5 x 122.6 cm (72 1/4 x 48 1/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Signed LL:Homage to Matisse, November 1955; LR:Hartigan

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

56.120

Type

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Art and Design from 1900 to Now
Jun 04, 2022 – Sep 01, 2026

Label copy

In painting I try to make some logic out of the world that has been given to me in chaos. I have a very pretentious idea that I want to make life, I want to make sense out of it. The fact that I am doomed to failure-that doesn’t deter me in the least.


-Grace Hartigan

History and time collapse into one frenzied plane in this exuberant composition that addresses Hartigan’s desire to create “a surface that resists, like a wall, not opens, like a gate.” Here Hartigan employed thick and sensuous brushstrokes to pay homage to a 1915 painting by Henri Matisse. That work by Matisse is itself a tribute to Dutch painter Jan Davidsz. de Heem’s 1640 still-life of a table laden with platters of fruit and other spoils.

-Kate Irvin, curator of costume and textiles

Better Still
Looking at Still Life in the Museum Collection
Feb 06, 2004 – May 02, 2004
New York School Abstraction
Nov 09, 2001 – Feb 17, 2002
Sign Language
Twentieth-Century Painting from the Permanent Collection
Jun 23, 2000 – Oct 29, 2000
The Moderns
Twentieth-Century Art from the Permanent Collection
Aug 06, 1993 – Mar 13, 1994

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Tombstone

Grace Hartigan (American, 1922-2008)
Homage to Matisse, 1955
Oil on canvas
183.5 x 122.6 cm (72 1/4 x 48 1/4 inches)
Anonymous gift 56.120

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