View in Perspective of a Perfect Sunset

Currently not on view

View in Perspective of a Perfect Sunset

1941

Eugene Berman (American (born Russia), 1899–1972)

This painting by Eugène Berman can be viewed as a summary of his career. It combines the languid style he developed in Paris in the 1920s with an illusionism influenced by Salvador Dalí (Spanish, 1904 - 1989), as seen in the man holding up the sun as his shadow waves a cloth. Baroque architectural elements speak to Berman’s love of Rome, where he traveled often and eventually lived. But the scene’s glowing light and distant mesas surely come from the American Southwest, and indeed the picture was executed in California. The expansive wood floor at the bottom of the painting recalls the theater and film stages for which Berman designed costumes and sets throughout his life, and in a broader sense gives the image its sense of artificiality.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

View in Perspective of a Perfect Sunset

Date:

1941

Artist:

Eugene Berman (American (born Russia), 1899–1972)

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

36 1/16 x 50 inches (91.6 x 127 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clifford, 1951

Accession Number:

1951-28-1

Geography:

Made in California, United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view