Copied
Morris Graves, Hibernation, 1954, watercolor on paper mounted on paper, sheet: 18 1⁄4 x 26 3⁄8 in. (46.2 x 66.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.37
Copied
Artwork Details
- Title
- Hibernation
- Artist
- Date
- 1954
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- sheet: 18 1⁄4 x 26 3⁄8 in. (46.2 x 66.9 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- watercolor on paper mounted on paper
- Classifications
- Keywords
- State of being — other — sleep
- Animal
- Object Number
- 1986.6.37
Artwork Description
Graves combined nature with Asian philosophy in Hibernation. This painting depicts an adult mink resting in a fetal position. It is surrounded by a glowing egg, or “Yoga mandala,” which, according to Graves, “blooms” as a result of the mink’s “intense isolation.” Hibernation manifests the artist’s displeasure with the industrial world and his appreciation for rural solitude and the spellbinding quiet of nature.
Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009
Exhibitions
October 20, 2018–November 28, 2018
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.