Accession Number
2000/2.278

Title
Scape Drawing IV

Artist(s)
Bryan Hunt

Object Creation Date
1981

Medium & Support
graphite, oilstick and watercolor on wove paper

Dimensions
5 5/8 x 7 9/16 in. (14.29 x 19.21 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Barrows

Label copy
Best known for his abstract sculptures of fragments from the natural world—or more accurately, sculptures of abstracted fragments from the natural world—Bryan Hunt began his career creating models of well-known architectural monuments. By 1976, his style had changed considerably. Inspired by Willem de Kooning’s expressionistic sculptures, Hunt translated elements directly from the landscapes: lakes, quarries, waterfalls. The result was richly abstracted forms isolated from their original contexts.
Scape Drawing IV is related to the artist’s more famous body of sculpture derived from the natural forms of the landscape. In both his sculptures and this drawing, Hunt captures a moment in time and holds it still for the viewer’s contemplation. It is a statement about the movement and energy of the landscape as much as it is about the representation of any specific place. The painterly handling of the materials is also similar to the way he handles his sculpted pieces; the hand of the artist is directly seen.

Sean M. Ulmer, University Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, for "A Matter of Degree: Abstraction in Twentieth-Century Art," November 10, 2001 - January 27, 2002

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
Non-Representational Art
abstraction