The People in the Story; Bolton Landing

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Copied Dorothy Dehner, The People in the Story; Bolton Landing, 1949, pen and ink and watercolor wash on paper, sheet: 18 1⁄8 x 22 7⁄8 in. (46.1 x 58.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1987.12.1

Artwork Details

Title
The People in the Story; Bolton Landing
Artist
Date
1949
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 18 1⁄8 x 22 7⁄8 in. (46.1 x 58.2 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
pen and ink and watercolor wash on paper
Classifications
Keywords
  • Abstract
  • Fantasy
  • Landscape — New York — Bolton Landing
Object Number
1987.12.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1987.12.1

Artwork Description

This watercolor refers to Dehner’s life at Bolton Landing in upstate New York during the 1930s and ‘40s. Although the title suggests that she represented specific people, the forms relate instead to the natural world and only occasionally reference human beings. The tall, vertical shapes evoke totemic presences, but the variations endow each one with an individual personality.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009