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Untitled

Norman Lewis American
1978
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 830
An Abstract Expressionist, Lewis developed a unique approach to abstract painting. His paintings, such as this example, are composed of individual strokes reminiscent of glyphs, calligraphic script, and miniaturized figures set within fields of color. These individual elements seem to respond to one another’s position, their movements carefully choreographed by the artist. Because Lewis’s strokes mass and swarm in the manner of large groups of bodies, they often call to mind dances, marches, and processions, including those associated with the civil rights movement, whose aims Lewis supported. The blue field here evokes the maritime landscapes around New York and in Greece, where Lewis travelled in 1973 to visit Jack Whitten.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Untitled
  • Artist: Norman Lewis (American, New York 1909–1979 New York)
  • Date: 1978
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 50 × 72 in. (127 × 182.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, George A. Hearn Fund, by exchange, and The Eugene and Estelle Ferkauf Foundation Gift, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.47
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Norman Wilfred Lewis
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Umbrella, Norman Lewis American, Lithograph
Umbrella
Norman Lewis
ca. 1938
Parade of Figures, Norman Lewis American, Etching
Parade of Figures
Norman Lewis
ca. 1972
Goin' North, Norman Lewis American, Lithograph
Goin' North
Norman Lewis
1942
The Street People, Norman Lewis American, Lithograph
The Street People
Norman Lewis
1935–39
Southern Landscape, Norman Lewis American, Lithograph
Southern Landscape
Norman Lewis
ca. 1939

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