Portrait of Pegeen

between 1942 and 1943

Richard Pousette-Dart American, 1916-1992

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About the Artwork

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

In 1942, art patron Peggy Guggenheim invited Richard Pousette-Dart to exhibit at her New York gallery and paint a portrait of her teenage daughter Pegeen. The right half of the painting mirrors, and formally dissolves, the firmly articulated left half. Pegeen's pony-tailed profile teems with biological activity even as it competes with the unmistakable presence of African sculpture: a Senufo face mask, a Kota reliquary figure, and a Bamana antelope can be seen in the painting's textured surface. Eyes abound as symbols of the young girl's curiosity.

Title Portrait of Pegeen

Artwork Date between 1942 and 1943

Artist Richard Pousette-Dart

Life Dates 1916-1992

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on linen

Dimensions Unframed: 50 × 52 inches (127 × 132.1 cm) Framed: 50 3/4 × 52 5/8 × 1 3/4 inches (128.9 × 133.7 × 4.4 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department Contemporary Art after 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 1989.71

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

1989-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Bulletin of the DIA 66, nos 2/3 (1990): 7, fig. 4 (ill.).

Hobbs, Robert and Joanne Kuebler. Richard Pousette-Dart. Indianapolis, IN and Bloomington, IL, 1990, p. 98, 101 (ill.).

Ehrhard, Ingrid and Katya Hilbig, eds. The Living Edge: Richard Pousette-Dart, 1916-1992: Works on Paper. Frankfurt, 2001, p. 32.

Kruty, Paul. "Richard Pousette-Dart, Paintings 1939-1985." In Transcending Abstraction: Richard Pousette-Dart, Paintings, 1939-1985, ed. Sam Hunter. Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1986, pp. 27, 28, 29, 30, 40 (ill.).

de Chassey, Éric, ed. Le Surréalisme dans l'Art Américain. Exh. cat., Musées de Marseille et la Réunion des muses nationaux. Paris, 2021, p. 81, cat. no. 64 (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Richard Pousette-Dart, Portrait of Pegeen, between 1942 and 1943, oil on linen. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund, 1989.71.