ID#:
2009.0050.000011
Description:
Untitled (Adam and Eve), 1955—1959
Gouache on paper
Gift of Ron Kellen, 2009.50.11
Helmi created a series of prints and paintings based on the biblical theme of Adam and Eve. These works may initially have been inspired by Mark Tobey's 1948 tempera of this subject, which was exhibited in Seattle in 1953.
Tobey's conventionally academic image may reference Renaissance works by Lucas Cranach's the Eder (1472—1553). By comparison, Helmi's couple looks contemporary in its playful abstraction. This painting suggests the importance of Cubism in Helmi's work. At the same time, the artist's emphasis on pattern recalls her personal interpretation of Native American imagery, as seen in Yakima Eagle.
Gouache on paper
Gift of Ron Kellen, 2009.50.11
Helmi created a series of prints and paintings based on the biblical theme of Adam and Eve. These works may initially have been inspired by Mark Tobey's 1948 tempera of this subject, which was exhibited in Seattle in 1953.
Tobey's conventionally academic image may reference Renaissance works by Lucas Cranach's the Eder (1472—1553). By comparison, Helmi's couple looks contemporary in its playful abstraction. This painting suggests the importance of Cubism in Helmi's work. At the same time, the artist's emphasis on pattern recalls her personal interpretation of Native American imagery, as seen in Yakima Eagle.
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