The Rock
Peter Blume
1944–1948
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 146.4 × 188.9 cm (57 5/8 × 74 3/8 in.)
- Genre
- painting
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Styles
Tags
paintingtoolsModernismcanvasmodern and contemporary artmenoil paint (paint)painting (image making)constructionplantswomenbonesrocksSurrealismoil painting
About
A startling juxtaposition of images, The Rock depicts a shattered red rock resting on top of a base that is being demolished by workers below. Peter Blume labored for years to complete this painting, which was commissioned in 1939 by the Edgar Kaufmann family for Fallingwater, their Frank Lloyd Wright–designed home in Pennsylvania. Although the complex imagery resists easy interpretation, it may point to devastation and reconstruction, reflecting the turbulence of World War II and its aftermath. In the end, The Rock proved too large for Fallingwater and it was never displayed there.
