Extemporaneous

Helen TorrWW-1927-017634

1927·Egg tempera on metal, mounted on board·40.6 × 36.8 cm (16 × 14 1/2 in.)

<p>Helen Torr made this highly experimental work while living aboard a sailboat with her husband, painter Arthur Dove (see his work on view nearby). The forms here were probably informed by some part of the boat’s structure. The narrow bands of silvery gray recall shaped metal fit- tings, complete with small circles that are reminiscent of rivets or nails. But the artist deliberately abstracted any recognizable motifs, leaving an exploration of pure form and color.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1927
Medium: Egg tempera on metal, mounted on board
Dimensions: 40.6 × 36.8 cm (16 × 14 1/2 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Helen Torr

Artist

Helen Torr

Painting

Helen Torr was an American modernist painter working primarily in oil and watercolor from the early twentieth century until her death in 1967. Her abstract compositions employ geometric forms and a restrained palette to explore the relationship between color, shape, and spatial depth. Born in 1886, Torr developed her practice across several decades of American modernism, contributing to the formal innovations of her era.

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