Second Song
Kay SAGE
(American, 1898-1963)
Second Song
Date1943
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsoverall: 24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)
frame: 28 × 22 × 1 1/2 in. (71.1 × 55.9 × 3.8 cm)
ClassificationPAINTINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Estate of Kay Sage Tanguy
Object number1964.32
Subject(s)
- landscape
- architecture
Collection
- 20th century American
- American
Sub-Collection(s)
- Surrealism
- American
On View
Not on viewCollections
Label TextSage developed her own distinctive brand of surrealism after meeting the French artist Yves Tanguy, whom she brought back with her to the States upon the outbreak of World War II. They eventually settled in Connecticut, where they lived and worked for the remainder of their lives. Like Tanguy, Sage sought to achieve a dream-like effect through hallucinatory, airless landscapes, devoid of human inhabitants but populated by unsettling draped figures, whose humanity cannot be ascertained. Though overshadowed by her more famous husband, Sage was determined to be taken on her own terms, and in retrospect, it is now evident that Sage was as influential for Tanguy's later work as he was in her early development. The muted palette and nearly invisible brushwork are a constant feature of Sage’s work, lending her images the illusion of having materialized without human agency.
