Three Figures Under a Tree

William Zorach

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

In this drawing William Zorach abstracted the forms of a large tree and three nude figures into schematized shapes outlined with borders of parallel hatchings. The uniform treatment of humans and landscape points to the harmonious relationship he felt with nature on his annual summer retreats into the countryside. As he recalled of these idylls, “There were no problems . . . no gloomy forebodings, no literary solving of the world’s ills, only a joyous awareness of the world about us.” In addition, this drawing presents a modernist take on the traditional theme of bathers in the landscape.

Caption

William Zorach American, born Lithuania, 1887–1966. Three Figures Under a Tree, 1917. Graphite on beige, medium-weight, slightly textured wove paper., Sheet: 11 1/16 x 8 1/2 in. (28.1 x 21.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of William Bloom, 84.46.8. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.46.8_IMLS_PS3.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Three Figures Under a Tree

Date

1917

Medium

Graphite on beige, medium-weight, slightly textured wove paper.

Classification

Drawing

Dimensions

Sheet: 11 1/16 x 8 1/2 in. (28.1 x 21.6 cm)

Signatures

Signed lower right in graphite: "William Zorach / 1917"

Credit Line

Gift of William Bloom

Accession Number

84.46.8

Rights

© artist or artist's estate

The Brooklyn Museum holds a non-exclusive license to reproduce images of this work of art from the rights holder named here. 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. If you wish to contact the rights holder for this work, please email copyright@brooklynmuseum.org and we will assist if we can.

Have information?

Have information about an artwork? Contact us at

bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.