Morning

John R. Grabach, Morning, ca. 1917, oil on canvas, 36 ¹⁄₈ x 42 ¹⁄₄ in. (91.6 x 107.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1979.119.2

Artwork Details

Title: Morning
Artist: John R. Grabach
Date: ca. 1917
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
Luce Foundation Center
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4th Floor
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29A
Dimensions: 36 ¹⁄₈ x 42 ¹⁄₄ in. (91.6 x 107.3 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the artist
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Figure female — head
State of being — other — sleep
Architecture Interior — domestic — bedroom
Object — furniture — bed
Object Number: 1979.119.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1979.119.2

Artwork Description

John Grabach completed this portrait of his wife, Anna, shortly before her death. While the visible brushstrokes and bright colors are characteristic of Grabach's impressionist works, the enlarged bed and floating parasol create a distorted perspective. During World War I, Grabach worked in New York creating demographic and climatic maps of Europe for the federal government. As he commuted into the city every day, his fascination with the urban experience grew, and Grabach gradually turned from impressionistic landscapes and portraits, like Morning, toward the social realism seen in his Depression-era painting The Fifth Year (see Luce object 1979.119.1).