Blue Whirlpool Study
Artist
Cady Wells
(American, 1904 - 1954)
Date1933
MediumWatercolor on paper
DimensionsImage: 16 9/16 × 22 1/2 in. (42.1 × 57.2 cm)
Support: 18 1/8 × 24 in. (46 × 61 cm)
Support (Secondary): 18 × 23 13/16 in. (45.7 × 60.5 cm)
Mat: 24 × 30 in. (61 × 76.2 cm)
Support: 18 1/8 × 24 in. (46 × 61 cm)
Support (Secondary): 18 × 23 13/16 in. (45.7 × 60.5 cm)
Mat: 24 × 30 in. (61 × 76.2 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of the Cady Wells Estate, 1982
Object number1982.16.15
DescriptionBlue, white, black swirls on dark blue background. Black and white broad band through center of image with white squares within band.eMuseum Notes
In 1933, Cady Wells experimented with a variety of stylistic approaches, and Blue Whirlpool Study is unusual for its near non-objectivity. The juxtaposition of the spiral, the grid, and other forms suggests reference to natural phenomena, yet the painting departs from the more classic perspective on landscape found in Wells's other paintings from 1933. Although Wells experimented periodically over the next decade, it was not until the late 1940s that Wells explored a similar degree of abstraction.
On View
Not on view
