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Home > Art > Complex City

Complex City

A cubist city with an earthy palette, clustered together like mountains with perpendicular lines resembling doorways and windows.
Artist

Howard Cook

Date

1956

Medium

Oil on canvas

Object Type

Painting

Dimensions

H- 32 x W- 44 in. (81.3 x 111.8 cm)

Artist's Country of Birth

United States

Collecting Area

American Modernism

Credit Line

The Vilcek Foundation

Accession Number

VF2015.05.16

Copyright

© The Vilcek Foundation

Tags
architecture City landscape New Mexico New York oil Pueblo Skyscraper southwest
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A cubist city with an earthy palette, clustered together like mountains with perpendicular lines resembling doorways and windows.

About the Object

An abstracted landscape in which Cook merged the stepped pueblo architecture of New Mexico with the skyscrapers of New York City. Blocks of terra-cotta, lavender, and umber are defined by rows of columns and windows. These forms are contrasted by vertical white passages that simultaneously suggest tall buildings and mountain peaks.

 

Additional Information

Cook lived in New York and New Mexico and traveled cross-country frequently, including a 1945 train trip from New York to New Mexico on the Santa Fe “Chief” with Georgia O’Keeffe.

The Artist;
[Grand Central Moderns Gallery, New York, NY];
Samuels Hayes, New York, NY, 1958;
Estate of Samuels Hayes, New York, NY;
[Christie’s, East, October 1, 1998, lot 189];
[Owings-Dewey Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM];
Jan T. and Marica Vilcek Collection, New York, NY, 2001;

New York. Grand Central Moderns Gallery. Howard Cook, Recent Paintings and Drawings, November 16-December 5, 1956, np., cat. no. 12.

Tulsa. Philbrook Museum of Art. A Creative Union: Howard Cook and Barbara Latham, November 2, 2014-January 4, 2015.

Tulsa. Philbrook Museum of Art.  From New York to New Mexico: Masterworks of American Modernism from the Vilcek Foundation Collection (February 8-May 3, 2015); Phoenix. Phoenix Art Museum (June 5-September 6, 2015); Santa Fe. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (September 25, 2015-January 10, 2016).

Corpus Christi. The Art Museum of South Texas. Masterpieces of American Modernism from the Vilcek Collection of American Art. September 13, 2018-January 6, 2019.

Devree, Howard. “Two Who Paint in Highly Personal Styles,” New York Times, November 25, 1956.

Samuels Hayes Collection. Christie’s, East. American Paintings and Sculpture. October 1, 1998, lot 189, ill. np.

Agee, William C. and Lewis Kachur. Masterpieces of American Modernism: From the Vilcek Collection. London: Merrell, 2013, pp. 218-219, 262, ill. p. 219.

O’Hern, John. “Modern Manor,” American Fine Art Magazine, September/October 2013, p. 56.

Watts Jr., James D. “Modern masterworks: Philbrook exhibit brings American masters to Tulsa,” Tulsa World, February 12, 2015.

Tags
architecture City landscape New Mexico New York oil Pueblo Skyscraper southwest
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