On View
On viewObject number1968/9.88
Woman with Coffee Pot
Artist
David Park
(American, 1911-1960)
Date1958
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsimage: 39 1/2 × 53 1/4 in. (100.3 × 135.3 cm)
frame: 43 1/2 × 57 × 2 in. (110.5 × 144.8 × 5.1 cm)
frame: 43 1/2 × 57 × 2 in. (110.5 × 144.8 × 5.1 cm)
Credit LineDirector's Fund
Exhibition HistoryOn loan to the Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (June 11, 1997 - Aug. 14, 1998). On loan to Hackett Mill, San Francisco, CA (Jan. 9 - May 15, 2015).
"Lasting Legacy: A Collection for Kalamazoo," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan (Sep. 6, 2014 - Jan. 4, 2015).
"Interiors and Places, David Park + Richard Diebenkorn + Elmer Bischoff," Hackett Mill Gallery, San Francisco, California (Jan. 30 - Apr., 2015).
"The Expressionist Figure," at the KIA (January 19 - May 5, 2019).Label TextDavid Park once remarked that “paintings should be difficult.” In Woman with Coffeepot, the “difficulty” arises from the tension created between recognizable subject matter and the artist’s concern with the expressive possibilities of paint. For example, the arms and hands of the woman are realistic enough to convey the form and gesture of an everyday activity, and yet the face is a mask-like creation resulting from a few bold brushstrokes.
This painting received national attention when it appeared in a 1962 issue of Life magazine with a caption noting that “The act of pouring coffee is monumentalized in David Park’s painting. By obliterating details, he made the gesture take on the gravity of a rite.”
