Browse

Accession #	57.125
Artist	Florine Stettheimer
Title	Heat
Date	1919
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	50 x 36 1/2in. (127 x 92.7cm) frame: 56 1/2 x 43 in. (143.5 x 109.2 cm)
Credit Line	Gift of the Estate of Ettie Stettheimer
Location	American Identities: Centennial Era

Curatorial Remarks: Florine Stettheimer captured the dynamic social worlds of her intimate circle of family and friends, many of whom were artists and members of New York’s avant-garde. This whimsical portrait was inspired by a birthday celebration for Stettheimer’s mother at the family’s summer retreat in Bedford Hills, New York. Stettheimer’s interest in theater and set design is apparent through the arrangement of a stagelike space composed of horizontal bands of color. The blazing hues, coupled with the lithe bodies of the women and the wilted tree branches in the background, evoke the summer heat described in the painting’s title.