Construction in Ochre

Gertrude Greene

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Is this a painting, a sculpture, or both? Gertrude Greene is credited with having been the first American artist to create completely abstract wood reliefs such as this one. She was a founder (in 1936) of American Abstract Artists, an organization that promoted the work of American artists who felt that their art was overshadowed by their more famous European contemporaries.

Caption

Gertrude Greene American, 1904–1956. Construction in Ochre, 1941. Oil, wood, and Masonite on Masonite, 36 1/8 x 24in. (91.8 x 61cm) frame: 40 5/8 x 28 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. (103.2 x 72.4 x 4.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Balcomb Greene, 66.230. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 66.230_bw.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Construction in Ochre

Date

1941

Medium

Oil, wood, and Masonite on Masonite

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

36 1/8 x 24in. (91.8 x 61cm) frame: 40 5/8 x 28 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. (103.2 x 72.4 x 4.4 cm)

Signatures

Signed verso in chalk: "Gertrude Greene / 1941"

Credit Line

Gift of Balcomb Greene

Accession Number

66.230

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.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Did Greene live and work in New York? Did she attend art school?

    Yes, Gertrude Greene was a native New Yorker whose parents owned a department store in Brooklyn. She studied art at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School in Manhattan.
    Her husband, Balcomb Greene, was also a well-known artist who explored abstraction in his art. He gave this work to the Brooklyn Museum.
    Another quick note: her maiden name was Gertrude Glass.

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