Untitled
Charles Biederman
American Art
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.
MEDIUM
Oil on canvas
DATES
1936
DIMENSIONS
51 1/8 × 35 in. (129.9 × 88.9 cm)
frame: 56 × 39 3/4 × 2 in. (142.2 × 101 × 5.1 cm)
SIGNATURE
signed on lower left verso corner: "Ch. Biederman / Paris 12 / 1936"
INSCRIPTIONS
inscribed along stretcher: "12 /1936 Paris"
ACCESSION NUMBER
2014.2
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
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
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