Artworks

Bonfire, 1962

  • Artist

    Norman Lewis

  • Title

    Bonfire

  • Date

    1962

  • Medium

    Oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    64 x 49 7/8 in. (162.6 x 126.7 cm) Frame: 65 5/8 x 51 3/4 x 2 in. (166.7 x 131.4 x 5.1 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of the Estate of Norman Lewis

  • Object Number

    1981.1.2

Sharp, abstracted figures surround a vibrant orange center in Norman Lewis’s Bonfire. The title implies a congregation of people whose motivation could be either sinister, as in a gathering of the Ku Klux Klan, or celebratory. Lewis’s use of abstraction engaged with the sociopolitical realities of the 1960s while simultaneously focusing on nuances of color, line, and gesture. He experimented with this balance throughout his career, beginning with figural depictions and moving toward more abstract compositions.


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Artworks

Bonfire, 1962

  • Artist

    Norman Lewis

  • Title

    Bonfire

  • Date

    1962

  • Medium

    Oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    64 x 49 7/8 in. (162.6 x 126.7 cm) Frame: 65 5/8 x 51 3/4 x 2 in. (166.7 x 131.4 x 5.1 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of the Estate of Norman Lewis

  • Object Number

    1981.1.2

Sharp, abstracted figures surround a vibrant orange center in Norman Lewis’s Bonfire. The title implies a congregation of people whose motivation could be either sinister, as in a gathering of the Ku Klux Klan, or celebratory. Lewis’s use of abstraction engaged with the sociopolitical realities of the 1960s while simultaneously focusing on nuances of color, line, and gesture. He experimented with this balance throughout his career, beginning with figural depictions and moving toward more abstract compositions.


Explore further