On occasion, Reverón based his figure paintings on old narrative themes. Here, the allusion may be to the water–maidens of Hispanic folklore, traditionally depticted with shimmering, straw–colored bodies and golden hair. Reverón's nearly monochromatic "white" paintings represent the perceptual experience of forms dissolving into intense light. In the 1930s, working indoors, the artist began making such monochromes, with puzzling forms in shadowy interiors.

Gallery label from

2015.

Provenance

The artist.
1989 - 2004, Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, and Caracas, purchased through Christie’s, New York, Latin American Painting, Drawings and Sculpture, Sale 6820, lot 25, May 17, 1989.
2004, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, acquired as gift from Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.

Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 52 x 56 7/8" (132.1 x 144.5 cm)
Credit Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in honor of John Elderfield
Object number 329.2004
Department Painting & Sculpture

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Armando Reverón

Armando Reverón

Venezuelan, 1889–1954 3 works online

How can one speak of Armando Reverón without bringing up the light of Venezuela’s Caribbean coast? Blinding and all-encompassing, it bathes the fishing village of Macuto, where the artist established his household in the early 1920s.

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