Me
Artist
Larry Rivers
(American, 1923-2002)
CultureAmerican
Date1959
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 114 x 177 in. (289.6 x 449.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2001
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting in which the artist illustrated "glimpses of everything that's happened to me from birth to the present." The canvas is primarily white, with yellow, blue, and red rectangular shaped colors in the corners. Some of the images are altered from childhood photographs, and others are memories: the artist as a baby is illustrated in the reddish-rectangle above the yellow block; the yellow block shows a young boy on a pony; a figure playing the saxophone is near the center, at bottom; a housetop and upside down car are identified in the red block.Label TextLarry Rivers American, 1923–2002 Me, 1959 Oil on canvas Larry Rivers described this work as “glimpses of everything that’s happened to me from birth to the present.” He used a collage-like process to create the massive painting, first tacking old photographs of himself and his family to a large board in his studio, and then drawing, smudging, and erasing its images from his canvas. The result is a series of partial memories and partial concealments—a collection of signs and symbols, dreamy myths and deliberate absences, that are akin to reading the artist’s autobiography. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2001 ProvenanceThe artist, 1959; purchased by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., October 1959; 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. "Remix: A Fresh Look At Our Modern And Contemporary Art Collections," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, November 2, 2011 - March 17, 2012.Published ReferencesFrank O'Hara, "An Interview with Larry Rivers," _Horizon_ 11:1 (September 1959): 94-102. *The artist's studio is illustrated on page 94, and this painting is hanging on the wall in the studio. Chrysler Museum staff, "Recent Accession," _Chrysler Museum_ Bulletin 2, no. 4 (June 1973). Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 226. Irving Sandler, _The New York School: The Painters and Sculptors of the Fifties_ (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1978), 110-111, no. 70. ISBN: 0064385051 Thomas W. Styron, _American Figure Painting 1950-1980_, exh. cat., The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1980, 28, 115. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_ (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 111. ISBN: 0-940744-37-6 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), 222-223, no. 137. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6
