In the Dark Forest

Lenore Tawney, In the Dark Forest, ca. 1959, woven linen, wool, and silk, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1992.90, © 1959, Lenore G. Tawney
Lenore Tawney, In the Dark Forest, ca. 1959, woven linen, wool, and silk, 136 1254 121 14 in. (336.6138.43.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1992.90, © 1959, Lenore G. Tawney

Artwork Details

Title
In the Dark Forest
Date
ca. 1959
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
136 1254 121 14 in. (336.6138.43.2 cm.)
Copyright
© 1959, Lenore G. Tawney
Credit Line
Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums
Mediums Description
woven linen, wool, and silk
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
  • Landscape — forest
Object Number
1992.90

Artwork Description

I left everything in Chicago. I just brought a couple things . . . a refrigerator and my cat and my loom. And I didn't know whether I'd stay but I stayed. I immediately felt free.
--Lenore Tawney

In the Dark Forest represents Lenore Tawney's "open warp" technique. She pulled fiber through the vertical threads (the warp) by hand to create painterly, gestural forms. Tawney created this work at a crucial transition in her career. In 1957 she moved from Chicago, where she trained as a weaver, to New York City to embrace life as an artist. Her loom became a means to shape new dimensions of fiber art. 

Here, Tawney achieved the transcendental effect of sunlight filtering through a shadowy forest. The open warp weavings like this one seeded Tawney's lifelong experimentation with light, scale, and volume, which eventually reached the sky in her Cloud series.

Works by this artist (3 items)

Peter Campus, Three Transitions, 1973, single-channel video, color, sound; 04:53 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Ford Motor Company, 2007.33.12, © 1973, Peter Campus. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix, NY
Three Transitions
Date1973
single-channel video, color, sound; 04:53 minutes
Not on view
Peter Campus, Barn at North Fork, 2010, high-definition digital video, color, sound; 24:00 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.55.1, © 2010, Peter Campus
Barn at North Fork
Date2010
high-definition digital video, color, sound; 24:00 minutes
Not on view
Peter Campus, Head of a Misanthropic Man, 1976-1978, analog video transferred to digital video, color, silent; looped, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2011.55.2, © 1976-1978, Peter Campus
Head of a Misanthropic Man
Date1976-1978
analog video transferred to digital video, color, silent; looped
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2019.15 - SAAM-2019.15_1 - 137377
Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women
May 31, 2024January 5, 2025
The artists in Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women mastered and subverted the everyday materials of cotton, felt, and wool to create deeply personal artworks.

More Artworks from the Collection

Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
City is Man
Date1941-1952
linocut
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Untitled
Date1976
embossed paper
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Mandala
Date1977
lithograph
Not on view
Les Quais de la Seine a Paris
Date1917
hand-colored etching on postcard
Not on view