A Homage to Elizabeth Murray

Elizabeth Murray (1940 - 2007):
Careless Love, 1995-1996
oil on shaped canvas

at the Wshington National Gallery

I first met with the art of Elizabeth Murray in an exhibition (From Degas to Diebenkorn) organized at Phillips Collection.

The Sun and the Moon was what I saw first. Elizabeth Murray died in 2007 after a horrifying struggle with cancer, and this Sun and Moon was telling me a lot about her attitude against destiny: as her health was deteriorating, her appetite and enthusiasm for life were growing stronger. This shaped canvas was looking like a bag generously open, showing myriads of beauties and miracles. I wanted badly to take a photo: it was not allowed. I thought I would find the image on the web later.

And I found it, only the image was missing the spatial geometry of the art work: it was liming it to bi-dimensional and all that great exuberance was lost!

The same happened with Bill Alley, a fine rendering of New York's jazziness and of that special New York kind of joie d'vivre: that vital energy with a somehow perverse suggestion of visceral.

Only the web image of Jazz was keeping some of the artwork's architecture, the flexible universe of paper and color, with joyful shapes and delicate abstract components: Phong Bui considers Elizabeth Murray was in her way undoing the rectilinear universe of Mondrian.

I was last Sunday at the National Gallery and I found this Careless Love: the words of Phong Bui were coming again to my mind, about her visceral sense of the body.

This time it was allowed to take photos, and I also recorded a video, fascinated as I was by her art.

Careless Love: here is what Elizabeth Murray said in her last interview (given to Rob Storr), there's nothing like being in love!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Elizabeth
• Murray

[wundergrol]

I was Elizabeth Murray's artist assistant in the early 90's. All I can tell you is that this woman was the most impressive and lovable person and amazing artist.. I was so so sad to hear she had passed because I never did tell her how much she meant to me. this is my homage. Thanks Elizabeth .. for being so .. REAL and beautiful and amazing and ......... a kind person.

[PierreRadulescu]

@wundergrol thanks for your lines!

[artgirlsreality]

She is one of my favorite artist. Having her suceed as woman in the art world gave strenght. thanks for posting!

[krupple]

Thanks! That helps me get a feel for how truly 3d these things are.