Bowdoin College Museum of Art |

Preview image of work. oil on canvas, Theater (Watson) 37888

2018.38.4

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Theater (Watson)

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Artist

Katherine Bradford (New York City, New York, 1942 - )

Title

Theater (Watson)

Creation Date

2001

Century

early 21st century

Dimensions

19 x 20 in. (48.26 x 50.8 cm)

Classification

Paintings

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

oil on canvas

Credit Line

Gift of Katharine J. Watson in Celebration of the Artist

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

2018.38.4

The ambiguity and multivalence inherent in fluidly applied paint on canvas has been Katherine Bradford’s love affair for many years. In this painting, she delivers a bravura painterly performance on a stage of her own making that puts her energy, imagination, and irreverence on full display. Bradford does not create in a vacuum, but inserts herself in a dialogue with works of art by historic and contemporary practitioners. The Brunswick painter, who spends winters in Brooklyn, lives down the road from the Museum and once jokingly explained that as a young mother she liked to stop there when running errands in town, would admire canvases by Marsden Hartley, Andrew Wyeth, and others, and then carry bursts of inspiration to the aisles of the local supermarket. Art’s purpose might very well be its ability to enable viewers to define their perspectives and make contributions of their own.