The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

The front and back of a postcard. On our left, the front of the postcard depicts a white owl against a background collaged with scraps of print text and handwriting, two drawn human feet where the owl's claws would be. On our right, the back of the postcard depicts a stylized blooming, pink flower with white circles arcing over, and row of small pink flowers in front.

Owl 43

1975

Lenore Tawney

(American, 1907–2007)
America
pen and black ink and watercolor and collage
Image: 15.7 x 10.5 cm (6 3/16 x 4 1/8 in.); Sheet: 15.7 x 10.5 cm (6 3/16 x 4 1/8 in.)
Gift of Katharine Kuh 1981.177
© Lenore G. Tawney Foundation
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Lenore Tawney was a pioneering fiber artist known for large-scale public installations, but her postcard collages were personal missives to close friends on an intimate scale.

Description

This is one of 44 postcard collages in the CMA’s collection that the textile artist Lenore Tawney sent through the mail to her friend, the art dealer, curator, and critic Katherine Kuh between 1969 and 1981. Using natural objects and ephemera that she compiled over a lifetime, Tawney’s collages display the artist’s personal visual vocabulary and poetic response to materials. Recurring images—such as eggs, feathers, birds, baby animals, crosses, and circles—engage with universal themes such as vulnerability, resilience, infinity, and spirituality. Owls appear regularly in Tawney's imagery and could refer to evil, or wisdom.
  • 1975
    Lenore Tawney (the artist) [1907-1997]
    1975-82
    Katharine Kuh [1904-1994]
    March 8, 1982
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1981." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 69, no. 2 (1982). p. 82, no. 116 www.jstor.org
  • Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985).
    The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Owl 43|url=false|author=Lenore Tawney|year=1975|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1981.177