Dorothy Hood
The Supernal Twins

The Supernal Twins

© Estate of Dorothy Hood

The Supernal Twins
The Supernal Twins
ArtistAmerican, 1918–2000
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • The Supernal Twins
Datec. 1959
PlaceHouston, Texas, United States
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsSheet: 26 1/16 × 20 1/16 in. (66.2 × 50.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Nina Cullinan
Object number79.223
Not on view

Explore Further

Description

The title The Supernal Twins alludes to the
celestial (or supernal) Gemini constellation, which appears in the summer sky
near dawn. Dorothy Hood often discussed her fascination with astral imagery,
and the timeless and spatial dimension it instilled in her work. She held
Houston’s NASA scientists in high regard, and she took pride in noting, “I was
doing outer space drawings . . . before we went to the moon.”




ProvenanceThe artist, Houston; Nina Cullinan, Houston; given to MFAH, 1979.
Exhibition History"Four Young Americans: Easter, Goodnough, Hood, Von Schlegell," Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, April 29–June 7, 1959.

"Tradition and Innovation: A Museum Celebration of Texas Art," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston February 17–May 6, 1990.

"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.

Warrior's Plumage
Dorothy Hood
1957
Pen and ink on wove paper
57.44
Devastated Log with Emerging Spirit
Dorothy Hood
1961
Ink with traces of graphite on wove paper
79.222
Bell Plant
Dorothy Hood
c. 1960s-1970s
Ink on wove paper
93.176
Untitled
Dorothy Hood
1971
Ink over graphite on colored wove paper
72.72
Untitled
Dorothy Hood
1971
Ink over graphite on colored wove paper
72.71
Untitled
Dorothy Hood
1971
Ink over graphite on colored wove paper
72.70
Untitled
Dorothy Dehner
1953
Watercolor and ink on laid paper
2007.542
Effects of Sunlight, St. Peter's Colonnades
Hubert Robert
c. 1762
Pen and brown ink and brown wash with white pigment on laid paper, laid down on laid paper with blue (partially faded to green) laid paper border and ruled in black ink
2023.190
Alfred Thompson Bricher
c. 1899
2021.172.1, .6: Pen and ink on laid paper 2021.172.2, .3, .4, .5: Pen and ink on wove paper
2021.172.1-.6
After Fighting
Mohsen Ahmadvand
2008
Pen and ink, fiber-tip pen and ink, rollerball pen and ink, and red color pencil on wove paper
2018.118
Overall recto, cropped
Lucas Johnson
2001
Ink and ink wash on wove paper
2023.786
Overall recto, cropped
Lucas Johnson
1990
Ink and ink wash on wove paper
2023.776