Dorothy Hood
Devastated Log with Emerging Spirit

ExpandFavorite

Artist Dorothy Hood 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 Drawings

Object Type

DRAWINGS, PASTELS & WATERCOLORS

Description

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.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.