Vertical Landscape Painting
Jason Middlebrook
(American, born in 1966)
2011
Medium/TechniqueAcrylic on black walnut plank
Dimensions165 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches (420.4 x 105.4 x 4.4 cm)
Credit LineJames N. Krebs Purchase Fund for 21st Century Paintings
Accession number2012.4
On View
Not on viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
Middlebrook’s plank paintings exist somewhere between painting and sculpture, deeply rooted in the history of his material and process. He sources imperfect sections of trees from New York and Massachusetts and waxes them to bring out their natural sheen. After taping off carefully calibrated strips, he paints over the plains in broad, expressive strokes. This work’s man-made geometries are a departure from nature – a nod to the history of abstract art. At the same time, Middlebrook references and reveres the wood grain’s own naturally abstract patterns.
Provenance2011, the artist to Dodge Gallery, New York; 2012, sold by Dodge Gallery to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 25, 2012)
CopyrightCourtesy of Jason Middlebrook
about 1775–1800
About 1715–19
Artist unknown
