1 of 5
Caption
Larry Rivers American, 1923–2002. July, 1956. Oil on canvas, 83 7/8 x 90 7/8 in. (213.0 x 230.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by an anonymous donor, 56.160. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 56.160_SL1.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
July
Date
1956
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
83 7/8 x 90 7/8 in. (213.0 x 230.8 cm)
Signatures
Unsigned
Inscriptions
Inscribed lower right: "July"
Credit Line
Purchased with funds given by an anonymous donor
Accession Number
56.160
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
Copyright for this work may be controlled by the artist, the artist's estate, or other rights holders. A more detailed analysis of its rights history may, however, place it in the public domain. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
What's the significance of how blurry and faded everyone's face is?
What a great question! I don't have an immediate exact answer. However, based on looking, and seeing how Larry Rivers uses paint throughout the painting, I would argue that it is not a remark on the significance of the figures, as their faces have areas with some detail, even more detail than other areas of the painting.I come from Texas originally, so I think about the heat and how hazy and disconnected it makes people during the summer months. I did notice, though, that some of the people have a lot more detail than others (like the couple in the foreground versus the man in the right in the background).That's a great point! And considering the effect of heat on the figures is an interesting connection and juxtaposition to the Florine Stettheimer painting titled "Heat," where the figures have a hazy and languid presence.Where is that piece?It's on the same wall as the Rivers, just to the left of it. I've been looking more into you question to find out if there is any information on who the figures are in the painting. I'll get back to you if I find anything relevant!Excellent! I'll go back down and take a second look. Thanks!!Are those charcoal lines that are visible?
The drawing lines are definitely visible. I am not sure if Larry Rivers was using charcoal (it is not listed as a medium, so he may have been using a different type of pencil or pen), but his process is definitely very visible and a part of the work. The way in which the pigment soaks into the canvas is also interesting for its nod to other Modernist painters who were working during the 50s.Do we know who the figures are? And how many there are!? It's so hard to tell.There are 4 figures in the painting, and it's a family portrait of sorts. In 1956, Rivers was living in Southampton, Long Island, and the background of this scene suggests that location. The seating figure is actually doubled -- two portraits of the artist's mother-in-law, known as Berdie. The young man with the bicycle is most likely one of the artist's sons.What movement does this artist belong to?
Larry Rivers is considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" of Pop Art, because he was one of the first artists to really merge non-objective, non-narrative art with narrative and objective abstraction. You'll notice that it's grouped with/near several other scenes of picnics, they're interesting to compare.Cool. Thanks!You're welcome!What type of style would we call this painting? Not abstract?
Yes, definitely different! I've seen Larry Rivers called "proto-Pop," for one thing.Proto-pop! Who knew?!He was definitely working at a time when abstraction was favored in the United States, due to Abstract Expressionism (Pollock et al.), but he never stopped painting the human figure, even though his technique could be loose and he played with the thickness and thin-ness of his paints, as you can see here. He was a native New Yorker from the Bronx, the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. He definitely saw himself as a modernist but he didn't think that figuration had to be given up and he also liked to pay homage to art history in some of his work.Very interesting indeed!For example, he painted a large-scale tribute to Emmanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware in 1953, he was actually being very provocative at the time, by referring to a big historical painting that was very "out of style" in the mid-20th century. Here, he's giving us a scene of everyday postwar life which is the Pop connection, I think.Oh, I'll have to look up that Washington crossing one!It's very unexpected! He had an irreverent sense of humor and a rebellious approach to art.
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at