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Waning Moon: No. 1

Waning Moon: No. 1

1943

Morris Graves

born Fox Valley, Oregon, 1910; died Loleta, California, 2001

In what are some of his bleakest war-time paintings, Graves used the idea of the waning moon as a metaphor for coming death. As it fades to black, here the waning moon shines its last light on the devastating remains that remind us of our mortality, striking terror in the living soon to be submerged in darkness.
Ink, transparent and opaque watercolor on Japanese paper
26 1/2 x 30 1/2 in. (67.3 x 77.5 cm)
Gift of the artist
46.215
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Light, Shadow, and Gesture: Paintings by Northwest Artists", August 14, 1997 - August 2, 1998

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Morris Graves and Seattle", November 1, 2001 - October 20, 2002

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, "Night Sounds: Nocturnal Visions of Mark Tobey and Morris Graves - A Northwest Summer", May 4, 2006 - October 15, 2006 (5/4/2006 - 10/15/2006)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh, Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Department, "Calligraphy: The Symbolic Line in the Art of Writing & In the Arts of Form", 1957 (1957)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Views and Visions in the Pacific Northwest" June 7 - September 2, 1990 (06/07/1990 - 09/02/1990)

Taiwan, China, Taiwan Museum of Art, "Chinese Influence On the American West Coast Contemporary Art", June 26 - September 25, 1988 (06/26/1988 - 09/25/1988)

Washington, D.C., the Phillips Collection, "Morris Graves: Vision of the Inner Eye", April 9-May 29, 1983. Circuit: Greenville County Museum of Art, SC, 7/1-8/28/83; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 9/15-11/27/83; The Oakland Museum, CA, 1/18-3/25/84; Seattle Art Museum, WA, 4/19-7/8/84; San Diego Museum of Art, CA, 7/24-9/4/84. (04/09/1983 - 09/04/1984)

Walla Walla, Washington, Olin Gallery, Whitman College, "George Tsutakawa & Morris Graves: Paintings, Drawings, & Sculpture", November 5-26, 1978. (11/05/1978 - 11/26/1978)

Balboa, California, The Pavilion Gallery, "Morris Graves Retrospective", organized by the Fine Arts Patrons of Newport Harbor, CA, and the Newport Harbor Service League, March 1-31, 1963 (03/01/1963 - 03/31/1963)

Houston, Texas, Contemporary Arts Association, “Marin, Tobey, Graves", 1956(1956)

Bloomington, Illinois, Withers Public Library, "Northwest Artists", 1951 (1951)

Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, [Northwest Artists], 1950. Michigan Circuit: Michigan State College, East Lansing, 1950; Albion College, 1950; Museum of Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, 1951; Grand Rapids Art Gallery, 1951; Saginaw Museum, 1951; Flint Institute of Arts, 1951, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1951. (1950 - 1951)

San Francisco, California, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, "Morris Graves Retrospective Exhibition", May 21 - June 29, 1948. Circuit: The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA, 7/4-31/48; Los Angeles County Museum, 8/7-9/6/48 (05/21/1948 - 09/06/1948)

Oakland, California, Mills College Art Gallery, North-West Coast Painters, February 15-March 7, 1948.

University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene, "Morris Graves: A Retrospective Exhibition", February 8-March 13, 1966 (02/08/1966 - 03/13/1966)

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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