Object Details
Artist
Grace Hartigan, born Newark, NJ 1922-died Timonium, MD 2008
Gallery Label
My male students at the time were obsessed with motorcycles--one even kept his in his studio--and out of sheer self-preservation I bought a poster of Brando on a bike and [of] Peter Fonda, some cycle magazines, pinned them on my painting wall and Modern Cycle was the result. It is, incidentally, one of my favorite paintings.
--Grace Hartigan
Grace Hartigan's work often combines the spontaneity and large scale of abstract painting with images drawn from popular culture or everyday experience. In Modern Cycle, we see fragments of people and motorbikes--a dynamic mix of human and mechanical, masculine and feminine.
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection
Date
1967
Object number
1980.137.33
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
78 1/2 x 108 1/2 in. (199.4 x 275.6 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
On View
Smithsonian American Art Museum, 3rd Floor, North Wing
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Abstract
Figure
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_1980.137.33