Easter Island and Rana Raraku
Peter Blume
American, 1906–1992
1954
An ink drawing on paper in which Peter Blume records the layered profiles of Easter Island and the volcanic crater Rano Raraku, trying to translate their geology and isolation into a calm, almost maplike study of form.
The image unfolds as horizontal friezes—distant islets, midrange ridges, and a dominant nearby peak—rendered with spare contour lines, crosshatching and a pale violet border that flattens space into rhythmic bands.
Dating from 1954, the work links observational landscape to midcentury modernist discipline, treating topography as an abstract register and showing how artists used drawing to synthesize cartography, printmaking aesthetics, and lyrical study of place.
Medium
Ink on paper on colored paper
Dimensions
18 1/2 x 25 1/4" (47 x 64.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller
Accession
329.1955
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
