Philip C. Curtis, The Message, 1978, oil on gesso board, 25 3⁄4 x 8 in. (65.4 x 20.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 2001.51.2
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Artwork Details
- Title
- The Message
- Artist
- Date
- 1978
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 25 3⁄4 x 8 in. (65.4 x 20.3 cm)
- Credit Line
- Bequest of the artist
- Mediums Description
- oil on gesso board
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Architecture Exterior — detail — door
- Architecture Exterior — detail — window
- Object — other — sign
- Object Number
- 2001.51.2
Artwork Description
Philip C. Curtis sometimes incorporated written words in his paintings to suggest a story beyond the picture frame. In The Message the simple sign invites us to wonder who will be back in one hour, when the hour began, and where they have gone. The brick-patterned frame makes us feel part of the image, as if the painting itself is a doorway to another world. To step through would lead to a corridor of doors, eventually to a window and blue sky beyond. That distant window suggests that “back in one hour” might never happen.