Untitled

Primary Jean Follett (Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1917–Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1990)

Place MadeNew York, New York, United States, North America

NationalityAmerican, North America

Date1960

MediumCinders, paint, varnish, and collaged objects on wood panel

DimensionsImage: 47 15/16 × 48 1/16 in. (121.8 × 122 cm)

Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of the Longview Foundation, Inc., G1962.2

Keywords

nonrepresentational

Rights Statement

IN COPYRIGHT

Collection AreaModern and Contemporary Art

Object numberG1962.2

On View

Not on view

Label Text

Web Comments

Follett was a founding member of the Hansa Gallery, a 1950s New York City artist cooperative that embraced figuration and everyday materials as a way to move beyond Abstract Expressionism. Follett’s hermetic works incorporate detritus and items purchased from a local hardware store, lending her paintings a three-dimensional quality akin to reliefs. Here, metal and plastic objects dot a painted surface encrusted with cinders. “You have to be like a scientist and explore your environment and take in the whole of the environment,” Follett later commented, reflecting her desire to integrate her work with her surroundings. The Blanton’s painting is one of few extant objects by Follett; she moved home to Saint Paul in 1962, after a devastating studio fire destroyed much of her work.