Artist
Dorothy Hood (American, 1918–2000)American, 1918–2000
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Devastated Log with Emerging Spirit
Date1961
Made inHouston, Texas, United States
MediumInk with traces of graphite on wove paper
DimensionsSheet: 20 1/16 × 25 1/16 in. (50.9 × 63.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Nina Cullinan
Object number79.222
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
Prints and DrawingsObject Type
Devastated
Log with Emerging Spirit exemplifies Dorothy Hood’s expressive
draftsmanship and her assured play with elongated and staccato lines. The
“emerging spirit” of the title appears at the top of the drawing, possibly an
owl, which was a symbol of destruction in Native American and Pre-Columbian
cultures, but also an image of wisdom in Western traditions. Hood would have
appreciated both meanings in 1961, the year that she left Mexico to take up a
new life in her native Houston.
ProvenanceThe artist, Houston; Nina Cullinan, Houston, as of 1979; given to MFAH, 1979.
Exhibition History"The Avant Old Guard," Cullen Center, Houston, September 19, 1985–January 2, 1986.
"Tradition and Innovation: A Museum Celebration of Texas Art," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 17–May 6, 1990.
"American Abstract Expressionism: Works on Paper 1940s–1960s," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 20, 2015–February 7, 2016.
"The Color of Being/El Color del Ser: Dorothy Hood, 1918–2000," The Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, September 30, 2016–January 8, 2017.
"Kindred Spirits: Louise Nevelson and Dorothy Hood," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 3, 2018–February 3, 2019.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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