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

Stirring Still

Artist Elizabeth Murray (American, 1940-2007)

Date1997

MediumOil on canvas on wood

DimensionsOverall: 92 x 115 x 7 in. (233.7 x 292.1 x 17.8 cm)

ClassificationsContemporary art

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

Terms

coffee
Cup
Blue
Green
Pop

Collections

Modern and Contemporary

On View

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