Description
William T. Williams Sweets Crane contains references to the decorative arts, sculpture, and architecture. From a distance, the gold color of the center suggests the gold leaf used in Japanese folding screens. At close range, however, visible brushstrokes in this section convey a sculptural, tactile quality. The tactility is heightened by the contrast between this section and the flat, unmodulated colors of the squares, which echo the painting's central form. These overlapping "frames" direct the eye outward toward forms painted a highly reflective bronze coloranother reference to sculpture. While these frames are composed of unmodulated, flat color, their oblique geometry makes them appear to hover at an angle to the picture plane. They recede toward an illusory background space at the right or project forward at the left. Polelike forms of blue-black, blue, and yellow intersect the squares, seeming to push them back and shove them up like scaffolding in an architectural construction.
Reproduction of this image, including downloading, is prohibited without written permission of the artist or by contacting the Curatorial and Tour Services Office at 518-473-7521.
Details
- Work Date:
- 1969
- Location:
- North Concourse
- Dimensions:
- 9'-7" x 9'-2"
- Medium:
- Acrylic on canvas