On View
Not on viewObject number1966/7.1
Raven on a Rock
Artist
Morris Graves
(American, 1910-2001)
Date1943
Mediumwatercolor and ink on paper
Dimensionsframe: 36 1/2 × 34 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (92.7 × 87.6 × 3.8 cm)
image: 27 7/8 × 25 3/4 in. (70.8 × 65.4 cm)
image: 27 7/8 × 25 3/4 in. (70.8 × 65.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Donald S. Gilmore
Exhibition History"Morris Graves Retrospective Exhibition," University of California at L.A. Art Gallery (1956).
"Contemporary American Landscape," Lansing Community College (Oct. - Nov. 1970).
"Modern Masters from the KIA Permanent Collection," Saginaw Art Museum (Nov. 12 - Dec. 5, 1993), Rankin Center Fine Art Gallery, Ferris State University (Jan. - Feb. 1994).
"Masterworks from the KIA Permanent Collection," Dennos Museum Center (Mar. 1997 - Feb. 1998); Midland Center for the Arts (Apr. - July, 1998).
"Drawings from the Permanent Collection," KIA Nay Gallery (Nov. 15, 2000 - Jan. 22, 2001).
Label TextA Pacific Northwest artist influenced by Mark Tobey, Graves is a mystic and a poet, as well as a painter. An admirer of Zen Buddhism and Chinese poetry, he abstracts natural forms, such as birds, fish or trees, to create intensely moody, romantic, symbolic paintings.The bird is an ancient symbol of spiritual transcendence. Graves often creates the effect of antiquity by frosted patinas, white writing and scumbling techniques.
