Artwork Details
- Title
- Sea Images
- Artist
- Date
- 1947
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 60 x 36 in. (152.3 x 91.3 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of the U.S. Maritime Administration
- Mediums Description
- oil on fiberboard
- Classifications
- Keywords
- Abstract
- Object Number
- 1959.11.5
Artwork Description
In Sea Images a sandy "floor" is separated from a dark "sky" by a wavy area of murky black. A shape with thin radiating lines resembles a sand dollar or sea urchin, and a fish-headed shape emerges to touch a floating figure above, connecting the archaic inhabitants of the depths with the world of the surface. Sea Images was purchased the year it was painted for the SS Argentina, a passenger ship launched in 1929 that served as a troop ship during World War II. At the end of the war, the Argentina was converted into a luxury liner.
Modern Masters: Midcentury Abstraction from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2008