The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 20, 2024
Phenomena When I Looked Away
1960
(American, 1923–2012)
Unframed: 197.8 x 157.8 cm (77 7/8 x 62 1/8 in.)
Gift of Suzanne Jenkins 2015.160
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
Initially interested in theater, the young Jenkins obtained a fellowship at the Cleveland Play House.Description
Intermingled pools of vibrant color offset against dusky fields demonstrate Jenkins’s considerable command in manipulating the fluidities of oil and enamel paint in Phenomena When I Looked Away. Its title references the artist’s interest in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s studies in perception, in particular the observation that afterimages persist on the retina when one turns quickly from bright light toward darkness. In fact, Jenkins’s original title for the work was Phenomena When G Looked Away, with “G” alluding to Goethe.- Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 80
- "Paul Jenkins: Paintings, 1954-1960," The Redfern Gallery, London, October 25-November 24, 2005."Paul Jenkins, 1954-1960: The Early Years in New York and Paris," Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra Museum, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, September 7-Deember 17, 1999.[The painting was used as a prop in A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, directed by James Ivory, 1998.]"Paul Jenkins Retrospective," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 12-December 12, 1971; traveled to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, January 6-February 27, 1972."Paul Jenkins," Esther-Robles Gallery, Los Angeles, January 8-27, 1962.
- {{cite web|title=Phenomena When I Looked Away|url=false|author=Paul Jenkins|year=1960|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.160