- Title
- Congo
- Date Made
- 1954
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 72 × 60 × 1 in. (182.88 × 152.4 × 2.54 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.64.43.2
- Collecting Area
- Modern Art
- Curatorial Notes
William Baziotes blended the textures of Abstract Expressionism with the biomorphic forms and calligraphic marks of Surrealism, resulting in paintings that teem with asymmetrical shapes, glowing colors, and references to nature. The titles of his paintings, influenced by visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History, often recall landscapes both actual and imagined. Though Baziotes never traveled outside the United States, the topographical forms and wriggling lines of Congo gesture to his vision of the African river.
Wall label, 2021.
- Selected Bibliography
- The New York School, 1940-1960: The First Generation of Abstract Expressionism. Reno, Nevada: Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, 1979.
