Folded Wings – Memory – & the Moon Weeping

Morris Graves, Folded Wings--Memory--& the Moon Weeping, ca. 1942-1943, ink wash and gouache on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael and Caryl Marsh, 1969.78
Morris Graves, Folded Wings--Memory--& the Moon Weeping, ca. 1942-1943, ink wash and gouache on paper, sheet: 29 3⁄8 x 23 3⁄4 in. (74.6 x 60.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael and Caryl Marsh, 1969.78

Artwork Details

Title
Folded Wings – Memory – & the Moon Weeping
Artist
Date
ca. 1942-1943
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 29 3⁄8 x 23 3⁄4 in. (74.6 x 60.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Michael and Caryl Marsh
Mediums
Mediums Description
ink wash and gouache on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — celestial — moon
  • Animal — bird
  • State of being — emotion — sorrow
  • Allegory — other — memory
  • Animal — other — skeleton
Object Number
1969.78
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1969.78

Artwork Description

As a master of contemplative, spiritual expression, Graves used natural forms to symbolize his state of mind and inner vision. The bird with folded wings seems to emerge from his transcendent imagination, the artist’s “inner eye,” rather than from direct observation. The transparent, abstract image suggests an engraving in the face of a rock, worn away by time and weather, at once fading and accumulating new meaning.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009

Works by this artist (7 items)

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In the Moonlight
Artist
opaque watercolor
Not on view
Morris Graves, Hibernation, 1954, watercolor on paper mounted on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.37
Hibernation
Artist
Date1954
watercolor on paper mounted on paper
Not on view
Morris Graves, Spring with Machine Age Noise V, 1957, ink and tempera on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.58
Spring with Machine Age Noise V
Artist
Date1957
ink and tempera on paper mounted on paperboard
Not on view
Morris Graves, Wheelbarrow, 1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.90
Wheelbarrow
Artist
Date1934
oil on canvas
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

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Unidentified (American), William H. Johnson, Lincoln at Gettysburg II, ca. 1939-1942, recto: gouache, watercolor and pen and ink with pencil on paper verso: gouache and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.556R-V
Lincoln at Gettysburg II
Artist
William H. Johnson
Unidentified (American)
Dateca. 1939-1942
recto: gouache, watercolor and pen and ink with pencil on paper verso: gouache and pencil on paper
Not on view
Werner Drewes, Confrontation, 1945, ink and gouache on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Wolfram U. Drewes, 2004.31.1
Confrontation
Artist
Date1945
ink and gouache on paper
Not on view
George Giusti, "Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men."--Jane Addams, Speech, Honolulu, 1933. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1955, India ink and gouache on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.107
“Civilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal…
Artist
Date1955
India ink and gouache on paper
Not on view
Milton Glaser, "Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable.."--Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1791. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1957, India ink, gouache, watercolor, and varnish on paperboard mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.108
“Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that…
Artist
Date1957
India ink, gouache, watercolor, and varnish on paperboard mounted on paperboard
Not on view