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Interior with Mexican Doll (work of art)

Información sobre la obra de arte

Creado
1955
Artista
Grace Hartigan
Nacionalidad
Americana
Nacimiento/Muerte
1922-2008
Dimensiones
80 1/2 x 58 1/2 inches (204.5 x 148.6 centimeters)

Crédito

Gift of James I. Merrill

Número de objeto
G.57.3.3
Cultura
Americana
Clasificación
Pinturas
Departamento
Moderno

Key Ideas

  • Grace Hartigan was a famous artist at a time when almost all successful artists were men. She was the only woman artist whose works were included in an art exhibition called The New American Painting
  • Hartigan was part of the New York School, a group of artists in New York City that led the abstract expressionist movement. Rather than creating realistic-looking artwork, abstract expressionists depicted their inner thoughts and feelings.
  • Hartigan began her career making abstract art. She later transitioned to making more representational art. She painted Interior with Mexican Doll during this transition in her style. It features recognizable elements as well as abstract shapes. 

 

 

Más información

Grace Hartigan was one of only a few famous women artists of her time. Social and economic factors kept most women from having successful art careers, so Hartigan’s success is unique. She originally exhibited her work under the name George Hartigan in order to get more recognition as an artist. She began using her own name on her paintings in 1954. 

Hartigan was also a leading artist of the abstract expressionist movement. Abstract expressionists created art that showed their emotions and thoughts rather than making realistic-looking art. The abstract expressionist movement began in New York City, and many of the artists who were part of it were known as the New York School. Hartigan worked with many successful artists of the New York School, including Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, and Robert Motherwell. Hartigan was the only woman to have artwork featured in an exhibition called The New American Painting. This exhibition toured throughout Europe and helped abstract expressionist art become popular throughout the world.

Hartigan made fully abstract art at the beginning of her career. Her early paintings were full of shapes, lines, and color, but they did not have any recognizable imagery. Later in her career, she began creating more representational art. Representational art features realistic, recognizable elements. Hartigan painted Interior with Mexican Doll during the shift in her art style. According to the artist, this painting began as a still life of items in her studio. Some of the items in the painting are recognizable, like houseplants, a plaster cast of a classical head, and a papier-mâché Mexican doll. As the painting progressed, some of the forms disappeared under layers of paint. This resulted in a combination of representation and abstraction. Hartigan was criticized for changing her art style, but she stood by her decision to create the type of artwork she wanted to create.

I want an art that is not “abstract” and not “realistic.”

Grace Hartigan

Recursos adicionales

Recursos para los profesores: 

 

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Imágenes

  • A painting of a doll with orange hair, green plants, a white and gray sculpture of a head, and other colorful, loosely drawn shapes. The shapes are set against a bold blue background.

    Interior with Mexican Doll