Untitled
Object Label
The strong three-dimensionality of the biomorphic and geometric forms in this composition makes them appear animated within a space bounded by color zones. Charles Biederman had been experimenting with progressive modern European styles since 1930 and had gravitated toward greater abstraction after seeing the work of Cubist artists such as Pablo Picasso, newly on view in New York. He painted this work while living in Paris in 1936, under the fresh influence of the Surrealists Joan Miró and Fernand Léger, who preferred strange or oddly combined forms that were both unsettling and humorous.
Caption
Charles Biederman American, 1906–2004. Untitled, 1936. Oil on canvas, 51 1/8 × 35 in. (129.9 × 88.9 cm) frame: 56 × 39 3/4 × 2 in. (142.2 × 101 × 5.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Emil Fuchs and Polygnotus G. Vagis, by exchange, Dick S. Ramsay Fund and John B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 2014.2. © artist or artist's estate
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Untitled
Date
1936
Geography
Place made: Paris, France
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
51 1/8 × 35 in. (129.9 × 88.9 cm) frame: 56 × 39 3/4 × 2 in. (142.2 × 101 × 5.1 cm)
Signatures
signed on lower left verso corner: "Ch. Biederman / Paris 12 / 1936"
Inscriptions
inscribed along stretcher: "12 /1936 Paris"
Credit Line
Gift of the Estate of Emil Fuchs and Polygnotus G. Vagis, by exchange, Dick S. Ramsay Fund and John B. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
2014.2
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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