Zinnias

1933

Walt Kuhn

Painter, American, 1877 - 1949

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Walt Kuhn’s interest in still-life painting intensified throughout his career. During an extended stay in Paris in the summer of 1933, Kuhn proclaimed in a letter home that he would focus on still life when he returned to the United States. Once stateside, he painted Zinnias at his studio in Ogunquit, Maine. Kuhn and his wife, Vera, kept meticulous records, and they recorded that the “models” for this work were purchased in town. The brilliantly colored zinnias are painted in profile, three-quarter view, and frontally, as if Kuhn was indeed treating each as a model. The painting’s dark background allows the zinnias to stand out, their abbreviated forms shaped by thickly applied paint. Kuhn’s style has been compared to that of the Spanish 17th-century master of still life Francisco de Zurbarán, as both artists shared a penchant for austere, powerful compositions characterized by strong contrasts of light and dark.

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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

This nearly square painting shows an industrial area with buildings, storage silos, a smokestack, and railroad tracks. A mound of brown dirt or other material is in shadow in the lower left corner of the painting. Next to the mound, railroad tracks extend diagonally from the lower center of the painting into the distance to our right. The tracks end at a white building with staggered gray rooflines to our right in the distance. A tall terracotta-red smokestack rises high beyond the white building, smoke pouring out of its top and blending into the clouds above. Just beyond the mound of dirt, piles of white material, perhaps in unseen bins, line the railroad track to our left and lead back to a row ten interconnected, coral-orange silos. The horizon comes about halfway up the painting, and it is lined with a row of long white and gray warehouses. The artist signed and dated the work with brown paint in the lower right corner: “Sheeler 31.”

Scholarly Series:  American Paintings, 1900–1945

Scholarly Article:  American Paintings, 1900–1945: Zinnias, 1933

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1877-1949]; his estate; (Maynard Walker Gallery, New York); purchased 20 December 1957 by W. Averell [1891-1986] and Marie N. [1903-1970] Harriman, New York; W. Averell Harriman Foundation, New York; gift 1972 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1942

  • Walt Kuhn, Willard Straight Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1942.

1944

  • Walt Kuhn, Karl Knaths, Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1944, no. 1.

1948

  • An American Show, Cincinnati Art Museum, 1948, no. 32.

1958

  • Walt Kuhn, Albany Institute of History and Art, 1958, no. 9.

1960

  • Walt Kuhn 1877-1949: A Memorial Exhibition, Cincinnati Art Museum, 1960, no. 60, repro.

1961

  • Exhibition of the Marie and Averell Harriman Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1961, unnumbered catalogue, repro. 46.

1964

  • Walt Kuhn: Paintings, Drawings, Carvings, Nasson College, Springvale, Maine, 1964, no. 8.

1978

  • Walt Kuhn: A Classic Revival, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; Wichita Art Museum; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1978-1979, no. 23.

1985

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Stuart, U.S. Embassy residence, Oslo, Norway, 1985-1989.

1990

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Jack Kemp, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C., 1990-1993.

1993

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Henry G. Cisneros, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C., 1993-1997.

2009

  • Extended loan for use by Vice President and Mrs. Joseph Biden, Vice President's House, Washington, D.C., 2009-2015.

Bibliography

1978

  • Adams, Philip Rhys. Walt Kuhn, Painter: His Life and Work. Columbus, OH, 1978: 156, 261, no. 312, pl. 90.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 191, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 223, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Walt Kuhn / 1933

Wikidata ID

Q20192943

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