About this artwork
In 1922, Arthur B. Carles began a series of calla lily paintings, using the flowers’ stark shapes as the basis for formal experiments into color and surface. Calla lilies were of particular interest to Carles’s fellow modernists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Demuth, and Marsden Hartley because of their sexual connotations, which these artists frequently exaggerated or exploited. Carles’s Calla Lilies does not appear to carry any erotic overtones but instead is restrained in color and almost classically composed. Carles played with the effects of light and shadow on the curving shapes of the blossoms, contrasting the firmly modeled white flowers with the more loosely painted background. These juxtapositions expressed his fascination with the play of space in his compositions, and he likened the deliberate intervals between the flowers to the rhythmic qualities of music.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Arts of the Americas
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Artist
- Arthur B. Carles
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Title
- Calla Lilies
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Place
- United States (Object made in)
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Date
- c. 1922–1925
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Medium
- Oil on canvas
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Dimensions
- 76.2 × 61 cm (30 × 24 in.)
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Credit Line
- Quinn E. Delaney and Vance American Art funds; through prior gift of the Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection Fund; Mr. and Mrs. Frederick G. Wacker Jr. Endowment Fund; purchased with funds provided by Julie and Brian Simmons
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Reference Number
- 2008.183
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
