Night Magic (Blue Jester)

Carlos Almaraz, Night Magic (Blue Jester), 1988, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Gloria Werner, 2011.12, © 1988, Carlos Almaraz Estate
Carlos Almaraz, Night Magic (Blue Jester), 1988, oil on canvas, 54 x 54 in. (137.2 x 137.2 cm) framed, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Gloria Werner, 2011.12, © 1988, Carlos Almaraz Estate

Artwork Details

Title
Night Magic (Blue Jester)
Artist
Date
1988
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
54 x 54 in. (137.2 x 137.2 cm) framed
Copyright
© 1988, Carlos Almaraz Estate
Credit Line
Gift of Gloria Werner
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Cityscape — time — night
  • Figure — nude
Object Number
2011.12
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2011.12

Artwork Description

Almaraz was a pioneering Chicano artist who produced art for the United Farm Workers Union and cofounded Los Four, one of the earliest Chicano collectives. A later shift to expressionistic painting and graphics brought him national recognition. By the 1980s, his non-narrative images of Los Angeles addressed both his cultural affiliations and sense of isolation with living with AIDS. Night Magic (Blue Jester), inspired by velvet paintings sold on the U.S.-Mexico border, represents urban Los Angeles exploding with sensuous colors and populated by shadows suggestive of Almaraz’s lonely alter egos.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013
Description in Spanish

Almaraz, artista chicano pionero, produjo arte para la Unión de Campesinos y co-fundó a Los Four, uno de los primeros colectivos artísticos chicanos. Luego de adoptar un estilo expresionista en su obra pictórica y gráfica obtuvo reconocimiento a nivel nacional. Hacia los ochenta, sus imágenes no narrativas de Los Ángeles sugirieron tanto sus raíces culturales como el aislamiento que sentía al padecer del SIDA. Su obra Night Magic (Blue Jester), inspirada por pinturas sobre terciopelo vendidas en la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos, representa à la ciudad de Los Ángeles con una explosión de colores sensuales y poblado de sombras sugerentes de los alter egos solitarios de Almaraz.

Nuestra América: la presencia latina en el arte estadounidense, 2013 
 

Works by this artist (6 items)

View all artworks
Carlos Almaraz, Europe and the Jaguar, 1982, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of The Friends of the Corcoran), 2020.20.7
Europe and the Jaguar
Artist
Date1982
oil on canvas
On view
Carlos Almaraz, The Struggle of Mankind, 1989, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mark Lerner, 1994.51, © 1989, Carlos Almaraz Estate
The Struggle of Mankind
Artist
Date1989
screenprint on paper
Not on view
Carlos Almaraz, I Dreamed I Could Fly, 1986, pastel on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Margery and Maurice H. Katz, 2014.44, © 1986, Carlos Almaraz Estate
I Dreamed I Could Fly
Artist
Date1986
pastel on paper
Not on view
Carlos Almaraz, El Corazon del Pueblo, from Méchicano 1977 Calendario, 1976, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.53.3, © 1976, Carlos Almaraz Estate
El Corazon del Pueblo, from Méchicano 1977 Calendario
Artist
Date1976
screenprint on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
October 25, 2013–March 2, 2014
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.