Sponge
Peter Blume
American, 1906–1992
1942
A small pencil-on-paper drawing in which Blume renders ambiguous, spongelike organic forms—part sea-creature, part limb—to make the uncanny palpable through careful observation.
You’re struck by the suspended, curving shapes modeled with stippled shading and soft smudges against a bare ground, their porous textures and subtle shadows giving them an eerie, almost anatomical presence.
Executed in 1942, the work translates Surrealist interest in metamorphosis into meticulous draftsmanship, illustrating how American modernists used precise rendering to make dreamlike, uncanny subjects feel physically real.
Medium
Pencil on paper
Dimensions
7 1/2 x 9 5/8" (18.9 x 24.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Kay Sage Tanguy Bequest
Accession
341.1963
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
