Second Dresser

Date1966

Maker Michael Lawson British, born 1944

Label TextThough based in England most of his life, Michael Lawson spent three pivotal years in the 1960s studying at the University of Washington, where he developed his signature style: surreal and at times unsettling scenes that merge flatness of color with a three-dimensional exploration of space, blending sensations of chaos, control, and humor. His dense, fantastical paintings suggest uncanny landscapes, transposed into impossibly rendered interior spaces.

Object number2023.23.4

Provenance[Gordon Woodside Gallery, Seattle, 1969], purchased from gallery by Lucy and Herb Pruzan, Seattle, Washington, 1969

Photo CreditPhoto: Scott Leen

Exhibition HistoryBellingham, Washington, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Michael Lawson, October 23, 1993 – January 16, 1994. Text by Matthew Kangas. p. 10. Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma Art Museum, Creating the New Northwest: Selections from the Herb and Lucy Pruzan Collection, June 15 – October 6, 2013. Text by Rock Hushka and Matthew Kangas. pp. 61 & 91, pl. 45. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture, June 21 - September 2, 2024.

Credit LineGift of Lucy and Herb Pruzan

Dimensions62 x 49 in. (157.5 x 124.5 cm)

MediumEnamel on board