Hibernation

Media - 1986.6.37 - SAAM-1986.6.37_2 - 135619
Copied Morris Graves, Hibernation, 1954, watercolor on paper mounted on paper, sheet: 18 1426 38 in. (46.266.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.37

Artwork Details

Title
Hibernation
Date
1954
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 18 1426 38 in. (46.266.9 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

Media - 1986.6.100 - SAAM-1986.6.100_2 - 135134
Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection
October 20, 2018November 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.