Lines Take Shape
Alice Trumbull Mason championed abstract art throughout her career. She explained in a 1938 essay, “Today a sense of wonder is alive again. The abstract painter finds it, essentially, in his materials, and deals in the magic of textures, colors juxtaposed to force intensities which thus show movement somewhat as the sculptor shapes the air with his constructions.” In this way, the abstract painter builds “a new imaginative world.”
ArtistAlice Trumbull Mason, 1904–1971
Date1942
MediumOil on board
Dimensions28 3/8 x 34 3/8 x 2 in.
Signedl.r., in blue paint: Alice / Trumbull / Mason
Mark(s)verso, u.l., in black: Lines Take Shape, 1942. / $200.00 / [$275.00 crossed out] / Oil. / Alice Trumbull Mason. / 334 W. 85 St., NYC. 24. [label]
verso, u.l., typed in black ink: San Francisco Museum of Art / EXHIBITION The Women / ARTIST Alice Mason / TITLE Lines Take Shape / oil / NO. 2864.45 DATE IN 12/12/45 / LENDER David Porter / ADDRESS [label]
verso, u.c, typed in blue ink and inscribed in black ink: WASHBURN GALLERY INC. / 820 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10021 / 212 RH 4-8560 / Artist ALICE T. MASON / Title LINES TAKE SHAPE, 1942 / Medium OIL ON PANEL / Size 22 X 28 in [label]
verso, u.c., typed in black ink and inscribed in black ink: WASHBURN / 20 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019 / ALICE TRUMBULL MASON / "LINES TAKE SHAPE" 1942 / oil on panel / 22 x 28 in / (212) 397-6780 Fax (212) 397-4853
verso, l.l., typed in black ink: MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS / SPRINGFIELD, MASS. / "Three American / Purists: Mason, Miles, / von Wiegand" May 11 - / July 12, 1975 / "Lines Take Shape, 1942 / Alice T. Mason, Amer. / 1904-1971 / Lent by Washburn Gallery / 12.75.04 [label]
Inscription(s)verso, u.l., in pencil: Alice T. Mason / 33H W 85 St, NYC 24 / Lines Take Shape. Oil. 1942. / $200.00
verso, u.r., in black ink: Cleaned, 1973 / (matte surface) / "Soluvar" ^ varnish (removable with turpentine) / applied 1973
verso, u.l., in pencil: #1 / Alice Trumbull Mason / 334 W. 85 St N.Y.C. / oil [illegible] 1942 [illegible] / $190.00 [the whole inscription is crossed out, making parts illegible]
verso, u.l., in black chalk: Box 9
verso, c.r., on frame, in black ink: MAP[?] [illegibile] Row
Credit LinePromised Gift to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
ClassificationPainting
On ViewYes
This artwork's face covers about 134× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.