Ree Morton (American, 1936–1977). <em>Regional Work #2</em>, 1976. Oil on wood with celastic, Overall: 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Ree Morton, 88.34a-b. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 88.34a-b_SL1.jpg)

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Ree Morton (American, 1936–1977). Regional Work #2, 1976. Oil on wood with celastic, Overall: 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Ree Morton, 88.34a-b. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 88.34a-b_SL1.jpg)

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Can you tell me more about these?

Ree Morton is known for work that explores the nature of painting, incorporating two and three dimensional elements rethinking the nature of space in her art. Notice how the "curtains" hold their shape despite being made of fabric. The material is called Celastic, and can be hardened with acetone. The color of the fish and sky are similar, further tying the two parts of this work together. However, one scene is a view above the water and the other is below.

We are fans of this fish!

The upper and lower panels give you a view above and below the water. And if you look closely at the colors, you'll notice that the colors of the fish mirror that of the sky above!

Feels similar to the Kapoor Mirror in a way. Is that steel?

Great connection! There's definitely a similar sense of inversion going on. Kapoor created this Mirror by polishing the surface of concave piece of stainless steel until there were no imperfections. He then painted it a gradient of two lacquer pigments. It is stainless steel. I think the size and warmth of the colors certainly helps with making it feel more intimate.

Why are these not blue?

The color blue has a lot of meaning to a lot of different people. The water in these works is meant to be read as blue! Water and the sky have a lot to do with the meaning of blue. It also, historically, a difficult and expensive pigment to produce which gives it addition meaning across time and place.

Who is this by?

It is by Ree Morton! Morton was associated with the feminist and post-minimalist art movements of the 1970s. She used unconventional materials and autobiographical elements in her sculptures and paintings.

Does the artist want it to be 1 or 2 paintings?

That's a great question. She is emphasizing the relationships between different spaces -- for instance, the peaceful seascape above versus what is actually going on under the water!

They are one artwork: two paintings that make one "bigger picture."

Who is this by?

Regional Work #2

Ree Morton

Contemporary Art

Ree Morton’s series of twelve two-part seascape paintings was executed in San Diego in 1976. These deliberately romantic works are sensory impressions of seaside sunsets, and Morton zooms into ocean depths to depict fish in a naturally sublime palette. These wry updates to the storied art-historical theme of the sea are framed by Morton’s groundbreaking use of Celastic to represent billowing curtains. A plastic-composite fabric, when dampened Celastic can be shaped and formed—but quickly, and with significant resistance. Morton relished the challenge of working with a material that was not passive but required work and process, and thereby challenged dominant ways of making paintings.

ARTIST Ree Morton, American, 1936–1977

MEDIUM Oil on wood with celastic

DATES 1976

DIMENSIONS Overall: 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm) (a) Panel with fish: 18 1/2 × 49 3/4 in. (47 × 126.4 cm) (b) Panel with seascape: 17 × 50 in. (43.2 × 127 cm) frame (A): 23 × 54 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (58.4 × 138.4 × 14 cm) frame (B): 23 × 54 1/2 × 5 1/2 in. (58.4 × 138.4 × 14 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Unsigned

COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 88.34a-b

CREDIT LINE Gift of the Estate of Ree Morton

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION (a) panel with fish image; (b) panel with seascape

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Ree Morton (American, 1936–1977). Regional Work #2, 1976. Oil on wood with celastic, Overall: 40 × 50 in. (101.6 × 127 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Ree Morton, 88.34a-b. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 88.34a-b_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 88.34a-b_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT © artist or artist's estate

Copyright for this work may be controlled by the artist, the artist's estate, or other rights holders. A more detailed analysis of its rights history may, however, place it in the public domain. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Can you tell me more about these?

We are fans of this fish!

The upper and lower panels give you a view above and below the water. And if you look closely at the colors, you'll notice that the colors of the fish mirror that of the sky above!

Feels similar to the Kapoor Mirror in a way. Is that steel?

Why are these not blue?

Who is this by?

Does the artist want it to be 1 or 2 paintings?

That's a great question. She is emphasizing the relationships between different spaces -- for instance, the peaceful seascape above versus what is actually going on under the water!

They are one artwork: two paintings that make one "bigger picture."

Who is this by?