Canticle

Mark Tobey, Canticle, 1954, casein on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.79
Copied Mark Tobey, Canticle, 1954, casein on paper, sheet: 17 3⁄4 x 11 5⁄8 in. (45.1 x 29.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.79

Artwork Details

Title
Canticle
Artist
Date
1954
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 17 3⁄4 x 11 5⁄8 in. (45.1 x 29.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
casein on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1986.6.79

Artwork Description

Abstraction and spirituality are intimately entwined in the delicate works of Mark Tobey, whom, along with Morris Graves, Life magazine described as a mystical painter. Canticle refers to liturgical hymns from the bible. Tobey acknowledged that the abstract harmony of music was an important source of inspiration: “When I play the piano for several hours, everything is clarified in my visual imagination afterwards.” The intricate pattern of delicate marks that animate the surface (critics called it “white writing”) was inspired by the artist’s study of Arabic and Japanese calligraphy.


Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014

Exhibitions

Media - 1986.6.100 - SAAM-1986.6.100_2 - 135134
Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum
This exhibition presents some of the most treasured paintings and sculpture from SAAM’s permanent collection, including artworks by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, among others.