Nudes by a River
Artist
David Park
(American, 1911-1960)
CultureAmerican
Date1954
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 1/2 x 48 3/4 in. (153.7 x 122.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 60 1/2 x 48 3/4 in. (153.7 x 122.6 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower right: David Park 54
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2246
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting of two figures. In the foreground, a nude woman faces left, one arm behind her waist and holding the other elbow. She appears to be on land. To the right, a nude man stands with his back to the viewer, with his left hand on his hip. He is knee-deep in the river, and looks down at the water.Label TextDavid Park American, 1911–1960 Nudes by a River, 1954 Oil on canvas In Nudes by a River, David Park depicts bathers—a traditional subject with a prominent place in Western art history—but his subtle handling of space gives the painting an uneasy mood. Notice how Park’s use of multiple light sources and jagged areas of color leave each figure isolated. In 1949, Park abandoned a carload of his abstract paintings at the Berkeley city dump and painted the human figure for the rest of his life. Spurred by Park’s rejection of Abstract Expressionism, other San Francisco Bay area artists joined him in a wider renewal of figure painting. Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., after whom this museum is named, was one of the movement’s earliest supporters, and by 1957 he owned six of Park’s new paintings. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2246 ProvenanceThe artist, 1954; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by 1957; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to The Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "American Figure Painting, 1950-1980," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., October 17 - November 30, 1980. "Bay Area Figurative Art, 1950-1965," San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Calif., December 14, 1989 - February 4, 1990; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 13 - September 9, 1990; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pa., October 3 - December 30, 1990. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "Remix Redux: A Fresh Mix For Our Modern And Contemporary Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, August 15 - December 30, 2012. "David Park: A Retrospective," Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, June 1 - September 22, 2019; Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan, December 21, 2019 - March 15, 2020; SFMOMA, California, April 11 - September 7, 2020.Published ReferencesDennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 223. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_ (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 106. ISBN: 0-940744-37-6 Caroline A. Jones, _Bay Area Figurative Art: 1950-1965_, exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Calif., 1990, 25-26, fig. 2.13. ISBN: 0-520-06841-6; 0-520-06842-4 Edward M. Gomez, "The San Francisco Rebellion: An Exhibit Shows How Young Artists Rejected a Whole Ethos," _Time_ 135:6 (February 5, 1990): 74. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 206-207, no. 128. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Nancy Boas, _David Park: A Painter's Life_, Berkley: University of California Press, 2012. p. 163, 185, 187, plate 11. ISBN: 978-0-520-26841-8 Janet Bishop, editor, _David Park: A Retrospective_, (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in association with University of California Press: Berekely, 2019), pl. 68, p. 84.
