4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2010.

Silver Skies

Artist James Rosenquist (American, 1933 - 2017)

Date1962

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions78 1/2 × 198 × 1 1/2 in. (199.4 × 502.9 × 3.8 cm)
Other (Left panel): 78 1/2 × 66 × 1 1/2 in. (199.4 × 167.6 × 3.8 cm)
Other (Center panel): 78 1/2 × 66 × 1 1/2 in. (199.4 × 167.6 × 3.8 cm)
Other (Right panel): 78 1/2 × 66 × 1 1/2 in. (199.4 × 167.6 × 3.8 cm)

ClassificationsModern art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.699

Terms

Abstract
Bird
Woman
Tires
Car
Legs
Shoe
Bottle
Rose
Silver grey
Red
Gray
Blue
Black
White
Pop
New York, NY

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an unframed oil on canvas painting, done in three panels. It illustrates unrelated objects, from the left to the right: a turkey's head shown sideways, tires, a red rose, someone's knees as they ride a bicycle, the upper portion of a woman's face, the side of a car, the top of a bottle, and a men's shoes. Each collaged image is manipulated in size and color, throwing the viewer off balance. The primary colors are gray and red.

Label TextJames Rosenquist American, 1933 - 2017 Silver Skies, 1962 Oil on canvas Snippets of images float by: a squawking bird, tire tread, a red rose, knobby knees, a woman’s eyes, a car door, a glass bottle, and a shiny shoe. Silver Skies presents a sequence of dreamlike images that flitter along like roadside advertisements seen from a moving car. The combination hints at meaning or a story, but ultimately defies rationality or order. When the Sidney Janis Gallery included the painting in the International Exhibition of the New Realists in 1962, it helped launch the Pop Art movement and win critical acclaim. Not everyone was happy, however. Abstract Expressionists like Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell (whose work can be seen in the previous gallery) quit the gallery in protest, condemning what they saw as the vulgar commercialization of art. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.699