Summer Night
Summer Night
Artist
Will Barnet
(1911 - 2012)
Date1974-1976
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions37 3/4 x 36 3/4 in. (95.9 x 93.3 cm)
Framed: 39 in. × 38 in. × 1 7/8 in.
Framed: 39 in. × 38 in. × 1 7/8 in.
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.22
Signedl.c., in black paint: Will Barnet
verso, on canvas, in black paint: © Will Barnett 1976
Accession number
2006.22
On View
Not on viewCollections
Label TextLargely stripped of their features, both the women and the nondescript clapboard house they occupy, are archetypes, according to Barnet—symbols of fabled New England steadfastness. In the background, the shoreline, sea, and sky are simply rendered with flat swaths of paint.
Inspired by his familial ties to Maine, Barnet’s series of women along the shore represents his return to figurative painting but continues his exploration of creating illusions of space, an interest he developed when painting abstractly.
Inscribedverso, on tacking edge folded over the top, in black: Begun 1974 completed 1976 / The xxx [something effaced] Summer Night / Will Barnet
verso, on top stretcher member: This painting is a gift to my wife Elena Barnet 1976
Markingsverso, on canvas: REDON / AJNAC Preprimed [stencil]
