The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 24, 2026

Groton House

2010

Storm Tharp

(American, b. 1970)
America
ink, fabric dye and colored pencil
Sheet: 147.3 x 108 cm (58 x 42 1/2 in.)
Judith and James Saks in memory of Lynn and Dr. Joseph Tomarkin Endowment 2010.225
Location: Not on view

Description

More than an art of resemblance, portraiture for Tharp is an opportunity to tap into his own memories and fantasies. His artistic process combines the accidental with the intentional; the figure in Groton House was initiated with a few strokes of mineral ink that bled unpredictably on a damp sheet of paper, creating indistinct violet passages suggestive of pooling liquid visible in the figure’s hair. Tharp then manipulated the image, adding a hyperrealist drawing of a woman shrouded by networks of fine pencil lines and painted in ink with a wide brush. The figure in Groton House seems to emerge as if from behind a scrim, shape-shifting before the viewer and cohering to Tharp’s symbolic world.
  • 2010
    Storm Tharp (the artist) [1970-]
    2010
    (PDX Comtemporary Art, Portland, OR)
    September 7, 2010
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, and Bibliowicz Family Gallery. Storm Tharp: Third Person. Ithaca, New York: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 2022. Reproduced: p. 60-61
  • Storm Tharp: 20 Years. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY (organizer) (January 19-April 7, 2013).
    Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (1/19/2013 - 4/7/2013): "Storm Tharp: 20 Years"
    Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 229): March 21, 2011 - June 27, 2011.
    Hercules. PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR (2010).
  • {{cite web|title=Groton House|url=false|author=Storm Tharp|year=2010|access-date=24 February 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.225