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Catalog Data

Artist:
Philip C. Curtis, born Jackson, MI 1907-died Scottsdale, AZ 2000  Search this
Medium:
oil on gesso board
Dimensions:
25 3/4 x 8 in. (65.4 x 20.3 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1978
Luce Center Label:
Philip C. Curtis sometimes incorporated written words in his paintings to suggest a story beyond the picture frame. In The Message the simple sign invites us to wonder who will be back in one hour, when the hour began, and where they have gone. The brick-patterned frame makes us feel part of the image, as if the painting itself is a doorway to another world. To step through would lead to a corridor of doors, eventually to a window and blue sky beyond. That distant window suggests that “back in one hour” might never happen.
Topic:
Object\other\sign  Search this
Architecture Exterior\detail\door  Search this
Architecture Exterior\detail\window  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist
Object number:
2001.51.2
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk78bea8484-5272-4539-b79a-16ab55887460
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_2001.51.2