1966.36.a
Nudes
Artist
Emilio Cruz
(1938 - 2004)
Title
Nudes
Creation Date
1964
Century
20th century
Dimensions
10 7/8 in. x 13 3/4 in. (27.6 cm. x 34.9 cm.)
Object Type
drawing
Creation Place
North America, United States
Medium and Support
pastel on off-white wove paper
Credit Line
Gift of Walter K. Gutman, Class of 1924
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Accession Number
1966.36.a
Distorted figures interact in a boldly colored landscape that evokes a dreamlike atmosphere. Emilio Cruz’s pictorial approach hovers between abstraction and figuration. As a Black artist of Afro-Cuban descent, he believed that meaningful art is made by those who have an irrefutable dedication to humanity and understand the obligations of being a person on this earth. This moral objective guided Cruz’s creative process throughout his career. In 2002, he wrote that “it is imperative that the space be composed in a manner that it invites suspension of judgment, unless it will fall victim to romanticism and sentimentality. Because we are either alone in the universe or exist as an element of the divine, the space must bring into focus the terrifying irrationality of that knowledge.”