Half Light

Mary Pinchot Meyer, Half Light, 1964, synthetic polymer on fabric: canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Quentin and Mark Meyer, 1976.41
Mary Pinchot Meyer, Half Light, 1964, synthetic polymer on fabric: canvas, 60 18 in. (152.7 cm.) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Quentin and Mark Meyer, 1976.41

Artwork Details

Title
Half Light
Date
1964
Dimensions
60 18 in. (152.7 cm.) diam.
Credit Line
Gift of Quentin and Mark Meyer
Mediums Description
synthetic polymer on fabric: canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1976.41

Artwork Description

In my paintings, the color is the form.
--Mary Pinchot Meyer

The tondo--or circular canvas--was a favorite format for Mary Pinchot Meyer. Half Light is divided into precise quadrants. Their colors alternate in tone and hue, with pale lavender and blue contrasting crisply with earthy olive green and brown.

Meyer used thinned paint to penetrate the fibers of the canvas, thus melding color with form. She noted that there are no lines in her paintings, only edges "where one color stops and another starts." The artist did, however, draw two tiny dots in this composition. Can you find them?

Works by this artist (3 items)

John Mascoll, Untitled Wood Vessel with Lid, not dated, royal palm and cocobolo, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jeffrey Bernstein, M.D. and Judith Chernoff, M.D., 2021.66.24
Untitled Wood Vessel with Lid
Datenot dated
royal palm and cocobolo
Not on view
John Mascoll, Untitled Lidded Vessel, 2016, citrus, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jeffrey Bernstein, M.D. and Judith Chernoff, M.D., 2021.66.26
Untitled Lidded Vessel
Date2016
citrus
Not on view
John Mascoll, Untitled Lidded Vessel, 2016, bleached chinaberry, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jeffrey Bernstein, M.D. and Judith Chernoff, M.D., 2021.66.25
Untitled Lidded Vessel
Date2016
bleached chinaberry
Not on view