Harvard Art Museums > 2010.447: Untitled Drawings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Untitled (Mira Schendel) , 2010.447,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 18, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/336314. This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2010.447 People Mira Schendel, Brazilian (Zurich, Switzerland 1919 - 1988 Sao Paulo, Brazil) Title Untitled Classification Drawings Work Type drawing Date 1960-1970 Culture Brazilian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/336314 Physical Descriptions Medium Watercolor, metallic paint, fiber-tip pen on Asian paper Technique Painted Dimensions 35.5 x 22 cm (14 x 8 11/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Mira Schendel created 1960s/70s, through inheritence; to artist's daughter, Ada Schendel, until 2010, sold; [through Galeria Millan, Sao Paulo, Brazil]; to Harvard Art Museum, May 2010. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund Copyright © Estate of Mira Schendel Accession Year 2010 Object Number 2010.447 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description In this work colored pigment is laid down on the paper, wiped off, laid down again, and frequently (according to her daughter) the paper was ironed by Schendel in between paint applications. The result is a level of watery saturation in which it feels as if the fibers of the paper are practically drowning and swollen with pigment. The geometric design mimics mosaic work or tesserae, and this decorative rather than representational approach to the picture plane is redolent of a kind of Kabala-like decorative strategies. This drawing is notable for its verdant palette, which in its sprightliness summons all of the energies of spring. The silver disks that hover in the image, however, bring a mineral, earthly, and even "timeless" quality to the otherwise fleeting sensibility of the spring-like green. The drawing teeters and totters between these naturalistic references and sensibilities and a clear and strong interest in geometrical forms and the kind of all-over composition pioneered by an artist like Mondrian. The tension between the organic and the inorganic is a hallmark of Schendel's oeuvre, and this drawing is a wonderful example of her pursuit of the resolution of that which is putatively diametrically opposed. Exhibition History 32Q: 1100 60’s Experiment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 04/23/2015 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
