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Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.
Stirring Still
Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.
Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Stirring Still

Artist Elizabeth Murray (American, 1940-2007)
CultureAmerican
Date1997
MediumOil on canvas on wood
DimensionsOverall: 92 x 115 x 7 in. (233.7 x 292.1 x 17.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon, Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Waitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Paul O. Hirschbiel, Mr. and Mrs. Norman C. Willcox, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Lester, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred F. Ritter, Jr., Mr. Thomas J. Brockenbrough, Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Dalton, Mr. and Mrs. George M. Kaufman, David and Susan Goode, Henry and Angelica Light and Norfolk Southern Corporation, Shelley and Jeffrey Weisberg, and the Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Art Purchase Fund.
Object number99.26
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a oil on canvas painting mounted on wood. It has a unique blend of abstract painting and realist style, creating an almost cartoonish imagery. Her two giant snuggling cups have dash marks placed strategically, in groups of three, that suggest movement and energy. Liquid within the cup is alluded by the "jumping" of a drop, from each cup, into the other cup. The dominant color is blue, with green shapes, circles and squares, sporadically placed over the cups.

Label TextElizabeth Murray American, 1940–2007 Stirring Still, 1997 Oil on canvas on wood I paint about the things that surround me—things that I pick up and handle every day. That's what art is. Art is an epiphany in a coffee cup, –Elizabeth Murray Stirring Still uniquely blends abstract painting and realist imagery. The result is an almost cartoonish depiction of two snuggling cups that seem to dance with energy. Elizabeth Murray became well known for her witty and vibrant paintings of giant coffee cups, shoes, and other domestic objects portrayed in an Alice-in-Wonderland scale. Her sculpted canvases recall Frank Stella’s pioneering shaped works like Manteneia II (1968), seen in a nearby gallery. Yet, unlike the order and balance of Stella’s work, Murray’s eccentrically shaped paintings are whimsical, edgy, and a bit unnerving—representing her personal response to painting in the late 20th century. Museum purchase and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon, Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Waitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Paul O. Hirschbiel, Mr. and Mrs. Norman C. Willcox, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Lester, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred F. Ritter, Jr., Mr. Thomas J. Brockenbrough, Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Dalton, Mr. and Mrs. George M. Kaufman, David and Susan Goode, Henry and Angelica Light, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Shelley and Jeffrey Weisberg, and the Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Art Purchase Fund 99.26 ProvenanceThe artist; Pace Wildenstein Gallery; Chrysler Museum purchase and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold B. McKinnon, Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Waitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Paul O. Hirschbiel, Mr. and Mrs. Norman C. Willcox, Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Lester, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred F. Ritter, Jr., Mr. Thomas J. Brockenbrough, Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Dalton, Mr. and Mrs. George M. Kaufman, David and Susan Goode, Henry and Angelica Light and Norfolk Southern Corporation, Shelley and Jeffrey Weisburg, and the Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Art Purchase Fund, 1999. Exhibition History"Elizabeth Murray: Recent Paintings," Pace Wildenstein, New York, N.Y., May 2 - June 20, 1997. "Summer 1997," Pace Wildenstein, New York, N.Y., June 30 - August 22, 1997. "Group Exhibition," Pace Wildenstein, Los Angeles, Calif., March 12 - April 4, 1998. "Elizabeth Murray: Recent Paintings and Works on Paper," John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, Calif., September 10 - October 10, 1998. "Summer '99," Pace Wildenstein, 142 Greene Street, New York, N.Y., July 9-30, 1999. "Work of the Month," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., January 2001. Published ReferencesAlexi Worth, "Up Now: Elizabeth Murray at Pace Wildentstein," _ARTNews_ 96 (May 1997): 165. Marlena Donohue, "Cartoonish and Goofy, Yet Disciplined," _The Christian Science Monitor_ (June 5, 1997): 11. Linda Yablonsky, "Elizabeth Murray - Pace Wildenstein," _TimeOut_ 90 (New York), June 12-19, 1997, 47. David Carrier, "New York: Spring exhibitions," _Burlington Magazine_ (August 1997): 571, fig. 67. David Bourdon, "Elizabeth Murray at Pace Wildenstein," _Art in America_ 85 (October 1997): 114. Brady Dyer, "Elizabeth Murray's Stirring Still," _The Chrysler Bulletin_ (March/April 2000): 5. 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), 262-263, no. 160. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 85, fig. 101. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1 Roberta Smith, "Elizabeth Murray, 66, Artist of Vivid Forms, Dies," _The New York Times_ (August 13, 2007) Verlyn Klinkenborg, "Elizabeth Murray," _The New York Times_ (August 14, 2007) Marilyn G. Stewart and Eldon Katter, _A Global Pursuit_, second edition (Worcester: Davis Publications, Inc., 2008), 241 fig. 8-38 Cassie Langan, "Looking & Learning: Humor," _School Arts_ (November, 2010): 30.
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Sony a7R II 2022.
Salviati Dott. Antonio
ca. 1890
Photographed by Scott Wolff.  Scanned from a slide. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.
Étienne Prosper Berne-Bellecour
1876
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
Unknown
1875-1925
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
Unknown
1875-1925
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
Unknown
1875-1925
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
Unknown
1875-1925
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
late 19th century - early 20th century
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
Unknown
1875-1925
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
Unknown
1875-1925
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
Unknown
1875-1925
New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.
Unknown
1875-1925