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Bird Lover

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Bird Lover
Painting

1957
60 x 96 in. (152.4 x 243.84 cm)

Hassel Smith (Sturgis, Michigan, 1915 - 2007, Warminster, Wiltshire, England)

Object Type: Painting

Medium and Support: Oil on canvas

Credit Line: Museum purchase by the Museum's Collection Committee with additional funds donated by the Starbird Family, in memory of Carolyn Starbird and her amazing service to the San José Museum of Art

Accession Number: 2007.23

Exhibition

A Culture of Spontaneity: San Francisco Abstract Expressionism From the Permanent Collection, November 8, 2008 - July 5, 2009, New Wing, Second Floor, North Gallery, San José Museum of Art.

Line on the Loose: A Hassel Smith Memorial Exhibition, February 23, 2008 – May 18, 2008, San José Museum of Art.

SJMA Label Text

A Culture of Spontaneity: San Francisco Abstract Expressionism From the Permanent Collection (2008-2009)

Improvisational jazz provided an important model for Hassel Smith, whose boisterous creations have much in common with the riffs of San Francisco-based musicians Lu Watters and Bob Scobey – “the heroes of the San Francisco School” in the artist’s view. This painting, an homage to Charlie “Bird” Parker, is a prime example of Smith’s “Thunderbolt” series – so named by critic Allan Temko for the artist’s use of crackling, lightening-fast calligraphy.

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