Alabama Hills No. 5
Jay DeFeo, American, 1929 - 1989
1986
Oil on linen
Overall: 18 1/2 × 24 1/2 in. (47 × 62.2 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Miriam H. and S. Sidney Stoneman Acquisition Fund
2022.52.1
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Painting
Research Area
Painting
Not on view
Label
Only by chancing the ridiculous, can I hope for the sublime. --Jay DeFeo
The Alabama Hills, located on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, feature rounded vertical outcroppings of eroded stone. The area has an otherworldly look—something we might imagine for a distant planet. DeFeo, based in San Francisco, visited the area for inspiration. Rather than painting naturalistic images of the stone formations, she shared her sense of awe for the environment by abstracting the rocks’ shapes.
From the 2023 exhibition The Painter's Hand: U.S. Abstraction since 1950, curated by John Stomberg, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director
Course History
Studio Art 25.01, Painting I, Daniele Genadry, Summer 2023
Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023
Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023
First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023
Exhibition History
“In Memoriam: Jay DeFeo: A Selection of Paintings, 1986-1989,” Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, November 9-26, 1989.
The Painter's Hand: U.S. Abstraction since 1950, William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Jaffe-Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 3-December 16, 2023.
Publication History
Gottschaller, Pia and Joy Mazurek. "Jay DeFeo's Dialectis of Painting." Getty Research Journal, No. 18 (2023): 128.
Provenance
Jay DeFeo Foundation, Berkeley, California; sold to present collection, 2022.
This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.
We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu