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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2003.75
People
Julian Lethbridge, American (Colombo, Sri Lanka born 1947)
Title
Alibi 2
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1992
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/98571

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on linen
Dimensions
101.9 x 86.4 cm (40 1/8 x 34 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Greenberg, Beverly Hills, California, gift (through Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, New York), gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2003.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Greenberg in honor of James Cuno
Accession Year
2003
Object Number
2003.75
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
A thickly painted oil on linen in creamy white, incised with gouged strokes that appear to have been stained, rather than painted, by a brush loaded with heavily thinned black paint. The lines are widely spaced and concentric about the various loosely-drawn shapes, which gives an almost cartoon-like sense of startle to the surface. This effect is heightened by the perception of what seems to be a face, as well other possible anatomical allusions. The painting is housed in a simple black-stained wood frame. (Artist's? collector's?)
Commentary
Julian Lethbridge, a Cambridge-educated British artist who has lived in New York since 1973, is usually described as an abstract, expressive (if not expressionist) artist. Often appearing to base his imagery on organic stuffs, like grasses or branches, he has mined the possibilities available to varied densities of ground, and to patterns of lines, mostly overlapping -- either densely hatched and straight, or gnarly and thicket-like -- both in black and white and in varying degrees of stained and directly applied color, in painting, drawing, and printmaking.(His printmaking is extensive and much praised for its variation and control.) Lethbridge is also a much-celebrated teacher and has taught on the faculties of Columbia University, Yale, and Harvard's Department of Visual and Environmental Studies.

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