ticketsMember | Make a donation

Sixteen Waterfalls of Dreams, Memories, and Sentiment

Pat Steir American
1990
Not on view
In the 1980s Steir developed a technique that involved applying paint exclusively by dripping and flinging it onto the canvas. Despite the freedom of execution and the large areas of canvas to be addressed, Steir exercises expert control over her methods, which she developed in part through in-depth study of Japanese and Chinese painting. The pouring process also evokes comparison with the work of Jackson Pollock—but rather than painting on the floor, Steir works from a ladder on unstretched canvas tacked to the wall, pouring and flinging paint, water, or solvent from oversaturated brushes and allowing the fluid media to cascade down the length of the support. As she has explained, "the paint itself makes the picture…. Gravity makes the image."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Sixteen Waterfalls of Dreams, Memories, and Sentiment
  • Artist: Pat Steir (American, born Newark, New Jersey, 1940)
  • Date: 1990
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 78 1/2 in. × 12 ft. 7 1/8 in. (199.4 × 383.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Kathryn E. Hurd Fund, by exchange, 2009
  • Object Number: 2009.473
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Pat Steir, New York, NY
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Drypoint Waterfall
Multiple artists/makers
1991
The Wave--from the Sea--after Leonardo, Hokusai, and Courbet, Pat Steir American, Drypoint, hardground, aquatint, spitbite aquatint, softground
The Wave--from the Sea--after Leonardo, Hokusai, and Courbet
Pat Steir
1985
Word, Pat Steir American, Artist's book with five drypoints (one with aquatint) with pencil and colored pencil additions
Word
Multiple artists/makers
1980 (prints created 1977)
Black Abstraction, Georgia O'Keeffe American, Oil on canvas
Black Abstraction
Georgia O'Keeffe
1927
Self-Portrait as a Photographer, Yasuo Kuniyoshi American, born Japan, Oil on canvas
Self-Portrait as a Photographer
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
1924

Related Content

Perspectives

Articles, audio, and video from The Met's online magazine.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.