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Untitled

Artist Lee Mullican (American, 1919-1998)

Date1971

Dimensions74 3/4 × 74 3/4 in. (189.9 × 189.9 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineMuseum Art Fund

Object number

2018.28

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02A, Wolfe

Label Text“I am concerned with the essence of nature; its behavior, its contour, and exploitation, as in the discovery of a new planet with its phases of light, growth, weather… a vista built for meditation…” —Lee Mullican Formally, Lee Mullican’s large-scale canvas may remind you of a birds-eye viewpoint of a landscape. For Mullican, this comes from his training in the US Army Corps of Engineers, where he drafted topographical maps during World War II. He later painted abstract patterns inspired by aerial photographs of nature. Mullican’s army experience introduced him, through Dyn magazine, to art by Indigenous cultures, including pre-Columbian, Native American, and African societies—art that impacted his own artistic direction. Lee was also greatly influenced by Surrealism and its attempts to connect with the unconscious. This blending of lived experience and cross-cultural influence led Mullican to develop a style that not only layered materials and patterns, but also referenced the cultural and natural elements that inspired him.Published ReferencesCohan, James, Lee Mulican 1960's, New York, James Cohan Gallery, 2017.Exhibition HistoryJames Cohan Gallery, New York, Lee Mullican: The 1960's at James Cohan, October 19-December 21, 2017.