Composition III Artist: Ragnhild Keyser (Norwegian, 1889–1943)

1926

Modern and Contemporary Art

On view, 3rd floor, Modern and Contemporary Art and Design

Painted by Ragnhild Keyser at the height of her career in Paris, Composition II (1941.532.2) and Composition III exemplify the artist’s embrace of the Purist style pioneered by Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant and are among her most accomplished paintings. For each work, Keyser began with a sketch of several objects—a plaster torso, a bowl, and a chair, in the case of Composition II, and vases and a stack of books, for Composition III. She then flattened these shapes and solidified the intervals between them, eventually arriving at compositions that appear almost entirely abstract.

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

32 × 15 3/4 in. (81.3 × 40 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of Collection Société Anonyme

Accession Number

1941.532.1

Culture

Norwegian

Period

20th century

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Bibliography
  • Robert L. Herbert, Eleanor S. Apter, and Elise K. Kenney, The Société Anonyme and the Dreier Bequest at Yale University: A Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1984), 370, no. 384, ill
  • Collection of the Société Anonyme: Museum of Modern Art 1920 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1950), 49
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

abstract (general art genre)

Subject

Women artists

Inscriptions

n.s.

Signed

Keyser, Ragnhild (1889-1943) Norway

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