Monument to Space

1948

Gene Kloss

Associated Names
Gene Kloss

Artist, American, 1903 - 1996

The image shows a towering rock formation in an expansive landscape. The horizon features distant mesas and plateaus. The brushstrokes highlight textures and shadows of the rock and clouds. The color palette consists mainly of shades of gray with light to dark gradations. Sparse vegetation is seen close by, while more rock formations are visible in the distance under a sky filled with swirling clouds.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    drypoint and aquatint in black on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 25.24 × 37.94 cm (9 15/16 × 14 15/16 in.)
    sheet: 28.42 × 44.61 cm (11 3/16 × 17 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.2837

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Kloss 1981, no. 425

More About this Artwork

This is a black-and-white photograph of a rocky landscape with a patch of scrubland stretching out into the distance. Closest to us, on the left side, a tall rocky mountain rises up. Standing on the rocks is a woman with her back to us. She has long, dark, straight hair that falls down her back, and she is wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt and a wide white skirt. In her left hand, she appears to hold a rope, or perhaps her hand is tangled in her long hair. In her right hand, she holds a large square object with a handle that looks like a radio or similar device. She stands behind tall, dark gray leafy plants. On the right, the background reveals a vast open terrain dotted with small shrubs under a light gray sky.

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

the artist, Taos, New Mexico; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1982; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1988

  • Gene Kloss: Images of the American Southwest, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1988-1989

2024

  • "American Modernism. Borderlands: Expanded Visions of the Southwest," National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, May 15, 2024–January 10, 2025.

Bibliography

1981

  • Kloss, Phillips. Gene Kloss Etchings. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sunstone Press, 1981, p. 187, no. 425.

Inscriptions

lower left in graphite: Monument to Space; lower right in graphite: Gene Kloss; lower right corner in graphite: Ed 35 1948

Watermarks

WHATMAN 1955

Wikidata ID

Q77012144

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