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American Totem

Norman LewisWW-1960-172301

1960·Oil on canvas·Overall: 73 11/16 × 43 1/8 in. (187.2 × 109.5 cm)

<p>Norman Lewis, <em>American Totem</em>, 1960. Oil on canvas, overall: 73 11/16 × 43 1/8 in. (187.2 × 109.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund in memory of Preston Robert and Joan Tisch, the Painting and Sculpture Committee, Director’s Discretionary Fund, Adolph Gottlieb, by exchange, and Sami and Hala Mnaymneh 2018.141. © Norman Lewis, courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1960
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Overall: 73 11/16 × 43 1/8 in. (187.2 × 109.5 cm)
Collection: Whitney Museum of American Art
Artist: Norman Lewis

Artist

Norman Lewis

Painting

Born in 1909 in Harlem, New York, Norman Lewis tirelessly dedicated his life to his art and his community. Alongside the behemoths of Abstract Expressionism, including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnett Newman, Lewis stands as a critical member of this seminal group, and was indeed the only African-American artist present at the historic 1950 symposium at Studio 35 in New York, where the leading artists of the day coined their eponymous term.

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