The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Owl 43

Owl 43

1975
(American, 1907–2007)
America, 20th century
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=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

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