Composition with Sculptural Forms

• Title Composition with Sculptural Forms
• Category Painting
• Medium Oil on canvas
• Medium Pacific Northwest (subject or artist), Geometric, Human Figure
• Dimensions 25"h x 30"w
• Framed Dimensions 26"h x 31"w
• Year Completed 1957
• Description Wendell Brazeau, an influential American formalist painter and educator in the Pacific Northwest art scene, was born in Spokane, Washington in 1910. Despite lacking formal art training, he displayed an early interest in the field, examining the artworks hung at the Davenport Hotel and making artworks for his high school yearbook. The bulk of his work employed complex methods, including chance elements with a deck of cards, geometric shapes, bright colors and repeated patterns with “Klee-like” (Paul Klee) quality, specific subjects, and titles that offer few clues to their true meaning. He states in his notebook, “I must not title my paintings with direct titles such as ‘Erotic’ or ‘Bound Man’ but with either a neutral title, ‘Composition’ or ‘Still Life’ etc., or with a title that will have an oblique reference to the real subject.” Notably, from 1948 to 1958, he searched for a way to construct the human figure with ovals, lines, and arcs so the figure could be simple, strong, and expressive without being decorative or active. He produced many pieces during this time, one being Composition with Sculptural Forms.
• Artist Wendell Brazeau American 1910-1974
• Credit Carlson Collection
• Location Hawthorne 119 Bruner
• Accession Number 1976.0002
• Status Checked Out
• Administration Admin View
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