Breached Beaver Dam
Artist
Neil Welliver
American, 1929–2005
Date1975
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions95 15/16 x 96 1/8 in. (243.7 x 244.2 cm)
Frame: 97 15/16 x 98 1/8 x 2 in. (248.7 x 249.2 x 5.1 cm)
Frame: 97 15/16 x 98 1/8 x 2 in. (248.7 x 249.2 x 5.1 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift of Lee and Dona Bronson in honor of Edwin Gill
Object numberG.77.7.2
On View
Not on viewThough conceived on a grand scale, Neil Welliver’s subjects are often quite intimate, as is the case with his depiction of flooded woodlands near his home in central Maine. Welliver enhances this sense of undisturbed privacy by directing our eyes down to the water, which is calm enough to reflect the sky like a mirror.
The artist insisted his landscapes are more about the act of painting than about nature. The way Welliver made his paintings helps explain his philosophy. After drawing the composition on the canvas, he typically began painting at the top and methodically worked his way down, rarely if ever revising as he went along. He imposed further restrictions by limiting his palette to combinations of eight colors. By carefully controlling the entire painting process, Welliver endowed his paintings with a distinct visual unity.ProvenanceCreated United States, 1975; collection of the artist; [Fischbach Gallery, New York]; Lee and Dona Bronson, Beverly Hills, CA, 1977; given to NCMA, 1977.
Published ReferencesHarriet Shorr, "Neil Welliver" (review), Arts 51 (November 1976), 5, illus. (b-w).
Judith Cardozo, "Neil Welliver, Fischbach Gallery," Artforum 15 (February 1977), 70-71, illus. (b-w) 70.
Frank Henry Goodyear, Eight Contemporary American Realists (exhibition catalogue) (Philadelphia: Pennysylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1977), listed (erroneously as Beeched Beaver Dam) 49, discussed 48, illus. (b-w) 45.
Edgar Peters Bowron, ed. Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (b-w) 281.
Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., Welliver (New York: Rizzoli, 1985), illus. (color) 108.
Carolyn Marie Dimich, Voyages in English (Chicago: Loyola Univ. Press, 1987), illus. (color) 402.
Literature and Language, Grade 11 (Evanston, IL: McDougal, Littell & Co., 1991), illus. (color) 263.
Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (b-w) 283.
Huston Paschal, "Xu Bing: Reading Landscape," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview and Calendar of Events (May/June 2001), 6-7.
Max Halperen, "Outside In" (review), Raleigh: The News and Observer (April 27, 2001, What's Up insert), 35.
Huston Paschal, "Xu Bing: Reading Landscape," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview and Calendar of Events (July/Aug 2001), illus. (b-w installation views) 4, 5.
Julie Funderburk, "Walking into the Welliver" in “You Are the River: Literature Inspired by the North Carolina Museum of Art,” edited by Helena Feder (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2021), illus (color) 132.Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, Fischbach Gallery, "Neil Welliver," October 26-December 4, 1976.
Philadelphia, PA, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, "Eight Contemporary American Realists," September 16-October 30, 1977; Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, November 19, 1977-January 1, 1978, (listed erroneously as Beeched Beaver Dam) 49, discussed 48, illus. (b-w) 45.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Recent Acquisitions," December 14, 1978-January 28, 1979.
New York, NY, Hirschl & Adler Contemporaries, "The Contemporary American Landscape," May 2-29, 1981, no. 36, illus. (color).
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Xu Bing: Reading Landscape," April 29-August 6, 2001.
Asheville, NC, Asheville Art Museum, "Neil Welliver: Cycles of Nature," September 30, 2005-January 8, 2006.
Savannah, GA, Telfair Museum of Art's Jepson Center for the Arts, "Fast Forward: Three Decades of Contemporary Art from the North Carolina Museum of Art," January 23-April 27, 2008.
Wilmington, NC, Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum, "Bearden to Ruscha: Contemporary Art from the North Carolina Museum of Art," May 22, 2008-May 17, 2009. Object Rights Statement
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