New World
Artist
Shirley Crow
(American, born 1940)
Date2020
MediumOil on panel
Dimensions42 × 38 × 2 in. (106.7 × 96.5 × 5.1 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of Shirley Crow, 2025
Object number2025.7.1
DescriptionAbstract painting with a blue background, fire-like organic shapes in red, orange, and yellow in the foreground.eMuseum Notes
Through her colorful abstractions, Shirley Crow attempts to communicate the sense of awe and anxiety that she experiences as a human in contemporary society. Natural phenomena, scientific discovery, climate disaster, and personal relationships all provide inspiration; her paintings often read as landscapes that explore both internal and external realms. Started months before the COVID-19 pandemic, New World features glowing orbs reminiscent of embers dancing in the night sky, balls of gas careening through the cosmos, or vibrant fields of energy shifting and transforming before our eyes. In the face of mystery and uncertainty, Crow dives in headfirst with curiosity and wonder.
On View
On viewCollections
circa 1960
