Fear

Robert Vickrey, Fear, 1954, egg tempera on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.82
Robert Vickrey, Fear, 1954, egg tempera on paperboard, 34 1⁄4 x 58 1⁄4 in. (87.0 x 148.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.82

Artwork Details

Title
Fear
Artist
Date
1954
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
34 1⁄4 x 58 1⁄4 in. (87.0 x 148.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
egg tempera on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Occupation — religion — nun
  • Figure female — full length
  • Disaster
  • Landscape — building
  • State of being — emotion — fear
Object Number
1986.6.82
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.6.82

Artwork Description

During the 1950s, Robert Vickrey painted, made experimental films, and traveled around the world doing sketches for Time magazine. Throughout his work he assumed the perspective of the detached observer but said that to the careful viewer his paintings “always [convey] a sense of danger.” This is certainly true of Fear, in which Vickrey employed the shimmering medium of egg tempera for an image of a nun fleeing what he described as “the rubble and erosion of contemporary civilization.”


Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014

Works by this artist (3 items)

Image Not Available
Cubist
Artist
Date2014
brass, Nevamar laminate, rock, and silver plating
Not on view
Garry Knox Bennett, Boston Kneehole, 1989, Honduras rosewood, maple, aluminum, brick, Fountainhead, Colorcore, antiqued bronze, and watercolor, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Anne and Ronald Abramson, the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1990.104, © 1989, Gary Knox Bennett
Boston Kneehole
Artist
Date1989
Honduras rosewood, maple, aluminum, brick, Fountainhead, Colorcore, antiqued bronze, and watercolor
Not on view
Garry Knox Bennett, Bench, 1979, Douglas fir, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Theodore Cohen in memory of his mother and her sisters: Rose Melmon Cohen, Blanche Melmon, Mary Melmon Greenberg and Fanny Melmon Liberman, 1998.122.2A-E, © 1981, Garry K. Bennett
Bench
Artist
Date1979
Douglas fir
Not on view

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.

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Alphonse Mattia, Points of Reference: Atlas, Webster & Roget, 1995, painted Baltic birch plywood and various hardwoods with glass and gold leaf, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Peter T. Joseph, 1998.34.2A-O
Points of Reference: Atlas, Webster & Roget
Artist
Date1995
painted Baltic birch plywood and various hardwoods with glass and gold leaf
Not on view