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Will Barnet, Sleeping Child, 1961, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.1
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Sleeping Child
- Artist
- Date
- 1961
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 62 x 48 in. (157.4 x 122.0 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Keywords
- State of being — other — sleep
- Figure group — female and child
- Object Number
- 1986.6.1
Artwork Description
Will Barnet experimented with abstraction in the 1950s but in the early 1960s returned to the figure. Painting the human form, he said, allowed him to explore the states of mind and human relationships. His foray into abstraction paid off in Sleeping Child. The linear simplicity of the feminine forms and softness of the gray-black palette speak to the universality of the bond between mother and child.
Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014
Exhibitions
October 20, 2018–November 28, 2018
This exhibition presents some of the most treasured paintings and sculpture from SAAM’s permanent collection, including artworks by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, among others.