Pallas Athena – Earth

Grace Hartigan, Pallas Athena--Earth, 1961, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.17
Grace Hartigan, Pallas Athena--Earth, 1961, oil on canvas, 64 1⁄8 x 52 1⁄8 in. (162.9 x 132.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.17

Artwork Details

Title
Pallas Athena – Earth
Artist
Date
1961
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
64 1⁄8 x 52 1⁄8 in. (162.9 x 132.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Allegory — element — earth
  • Mythology — classical — Athena
  • Abstract
Object Number
1969.47.17
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1969.47.17

Artwork Description

Pallas Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, strategy, and war. Grace Hartigan has been inspired by fantasy since childhood, when she would dream up stories filled with gypsies, queens, and fairy-tale characters. Here, figural elements emerge from the image, such as the suggestion of a face in the top right, but Hartigan's thick, abstract strokes of paint dominate the canvas. The rich tones of red, brown, and black evoke the earth, spreading across the lower half of the canvas, and the jumbled mass of color at the top may represent the confusion and noise of the realm of the gods. (Barber, "Making Some Marks," quoted in Mattison, Grace Hartigan: A Painter's World, 1990)

Works by this artist (7 items)

View all artworks
Grace Hartigan, Modern Cycle, 1967, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection, 1980.137.33
Modern Cycle
Artist
Date1967
oil on canvas
On view
Grace Hartigan, Frank O'Hara, 1926-1966, 1966, oil on linen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Grace Hartigan, 1967.129
Frank O’Hara, 1926 – 1966
Artist
Date1966
oil on linen
On view
Grace Hartigan, Pallas Athena--Earth, 1961, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.17
Pallas Athena – Earth
Artist
Date1961
oil on canvas
Not on view
Grace Hartigan, Inclement Weather, 1970, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection, 1980.137.32
Inclement Weather
Artist
Date1970
acrylic on canvas
Not on view

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      An interview with the artist Grace Hartigan. Grace Hartigan grew up in New Jersey, where she married the boy next door after graduating from high school. They ended up penniless in Los Angeles, however, and Hartigan returned to the East Coast pregnant and alone. In 1948 she was mesmerized and fascinated by a Jackson Pollock exhibition and lived briefly on Long Island with the artist and his wife. She worked odd jobs in New York through the 1950s to pay for paint. In 1959, Hartigan married Dr. Winston Price and moved with him to Baltimore, where she worked in a large studio in Fells Point for decades. (Mattison, Grace Hartigan: A Painters World, 1990)