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Still Life
Artist: Jack Beal (American, 1931-2013)
Date: 1978
Dimensions:
Overall (tipped on a sheet): H. 23 in. (58.5 cm): W. 29 in. (73.8 cm.);
On Sheet: H. 19 in. (48.3 cm); W. 24 15/16 in. (63.3 cm);
Image: H. 18 in. (45.7 cm); W. 24 1/2 in. (61.5 cm)
Medium: Color lithograph printed on black Arches paper
Place of Origin: Boston
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Frederick B. and Kate L. Shoemaker Fund
Object number: 1980.1334
Label Text:Jack Beal, along with Philip Pearlstein and Alfred Leslie, is remembered as one of the foremost New Realists, a group of artists who in the 1960s and 70s repudiated abstraction in favor of figurative compositions and the depiction of common everyday objects. In his lithograph print Still Life, Beal provides a close-up view of an arrangement of lemons and oranges strewn across a geometric-patterned tablecloth. The diagonal recession of the ornamental tablecloth and the placement of fruit, along with the use of complementary colors, create a sense of vibrancy. By contrast, the glass vase, as the single vertical element, adds a note of stability and unites the composition with the white background.
Similar to his Still Life Painter (on view elsewhere in the gallery), the artist imparts an atmosphere of mystery, conveyed through the strong play of dark and light. Beal’s decision to reverse the typical figure/ground relationship with the use of black paper as the support and his skillful handling of space and light displays a sophisticated and lively treatment of a slice-of-life composition.
Similar to his Still Life Painter (on view elsewhere in the gallery), the artist imparts an atmosphere of mystery, conveyed through the strong play of dark and light. Beal’s decision to reverse the typical figure/ground relationship with the use of black paper as the support and his skillful handling of space and light displays a sophisticated and lively treatment of a slice-of-life composition.
Not on view
In Collection(s)