Paint and Painted

1969

American, born 1945

Jenney takes aim at hallowed notions of painting and the rarified activity of the studio in this work, offering as subject a lowly bucket of house paint instead of an ethereal abstraction. On the other hand, by subtly turning the can so that "Paint by Pearl" reads "Aint by Earl," he reasserts and even redeems his efforts to make the painting something to be taken seriously.

Acrylic on canvas

59 x 78 in. (149.9 x 198.1 cm)

Gift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

2014.25.33

Provenance: [Barbara Mathes Gallery, New York, New York]; purchased from gallery by Virginia and Bagley Wright, Seattle, Washington, Jan. 30, 1988

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, The Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection of Modern Art, Mar. 4, 1999 - May 5, 1999. Text by Trevor Fairbrother. No cat. no., reproduced pp. 114-15 (detail), 182.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Target Practice: Painting Under Attack 1949-78, June 25 - Sept. 7, 2009. Text by Michael Darling. No cat. no., pp. 140, 146, reproduced (listed as T98.84.26).

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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