The Oranges No 1 Black Crows 1949 — Fine Art

The Oranges No 1 Black Crows 1949 places broad fruit shapes against a dark field of birds in flight. Two heavy colour areas sit on the paper, one warm and one dark, with empty space around the edges. The eye lands on the fruit first, then moves to the crows.

The paint is spread in loose washes and a few hard edges. Grace Hartigan worked in abstract expressionist painting with quick brush marks and a mix of colour and gesture. Grace Hartigan also used figure and still life subjects in the same period.

You can hang this fine art print on a pale wall in a dining room, set a little higher than the table. The dark birds read clearly in that light, and the fruit shapes stay flat and clear.