For more than 50 years, Joan Snyder has been making abstract paintings with experimental materials, imbuing them with symbolic references. Drawing inspiration from her life and surroundings, she has established an expansive glossary of motifs and collaged materials, which include fabric, plastic fruit, flowers, and herbs. Through painting, the artist often endeavors to convey the fundamental emotions that connect humans to one another.
In My August, Snyder looked to nature as a guide; she created the work while immersed in a bucolic environment in upstate New York. Rosebuds, flower stems, and straw are layered with oil and acrylic paint of varying thicknesses. Delicate dripping trails of paint intersect with thickly applied brush strokes that punctuate the canvas with shades of pink, turquoise, blue, and green. At the lower left is an abstracted white shape of a pond, bordered by straw—a “sacred space” for the artist.
Organized by Mia Matthias, Assistant Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, with Lydia Mullin, Manager of Collection Galleries, Curatorial Affairs, and Elizabeth Wickham, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)