
Viola Frey once said that she sculpted figures because in her hometown of Lodi, California, there was nothing else to portray but the women in printed dresses walking through town on Sundays. Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress also recalls the Asian and pre-Columbian sculptures that the artist admired (Viola Frey, exhibition catalogue, Fresno Art Museum, 1991). The figure makes a gesture with her hands that in Japanese and Chinese statuary symbolizes speaking or singing. After her first two attempts collapsed, Frey began creating her monumental works out of individual pieces of fired clay that, when fitted together, stabilized the sculptures so that they would not fail.
“I don’t like things that are slick. I like things with a little bit of awkwardness.” The artist, quoted in Viola Frey, exhibition catalogue, Fresno Art Museum, 1991
- Title
-
Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress
- Artist
- Date
- 1983
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- overall: approx. 107 x 28 x 33 in. (271.8 x 71.1 x 83.8 cm)
- Credit Line
-
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of the James Renwick Alliance
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- glazed earthenware
- Classifications
- Keywords
-
- Figure female – full length
- Object Number
-
1994.37.2A-G
- Palette
- Linked Open Data
- Linked Open Data URI