Hibernation

Media - 1986.6.37 - SAAM-1986.6.37_2 - 135619
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

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)
Markings
lower right in watercolor: Graves/'54 mount verso lower right in pencil: B.480 mount verso lower right in ink: No 2
Credit Line
Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor on paper mounted on paper
Classifications
Keywords
  • Animal
  • Animal
Object Number
1986.6.37
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.6.37

Artwork Description

Morris Graves was profiled in Life magazine in 1954, the year he painted Hibernation, as one of four mystical painters of the Pacific Northwest. Graves had studied Zen Buddhism in the early 1930s and for much of his life drew on East Asian philosophies as a way to understand man’s relationship with the world of nature. In Hibernation, a mink curls up within glowing concentric orbs that resemble mandalas, the form that represents the universe and the sacred spaces of the Hindu and Buddhist religions.


Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014

Exhibitions

Media - 1986.6.100 - SAAM-1986.6.100_2 - 135134
Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection
October 20, 2018–November 28, 2018
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.