Name/Title
Parachute DropEntry/Object ID
5201Description
Vertical scene of small white figure dropping from a parachute onto a large red planet that can be seen partially on the bottom of the image. The sky is in shades of dark pink and yellow, with white clouds and one small, bright, yellow planet in the upper left corner.Artwork Details
Medium
Tempera collage on pressed boardContext
The 1960’s marked the last decade of Julia Thecla’s artistic career and somewhat of a restoration of her place in Chicago’s art world. Thecla thrived in the artistic community of Chicago in the 1930’s and 40’s, but fell to the margins in the 1950’s. She is considered a surrealist painter or a part of the “magic realism” group along with Gertrude Abercrombie and Ivan Albright. While her early work shows more human and animal figures, her later works such as this one, were focused on space. These space themed paintings are thought to have been either a reflection of America’s obsession with the “race for space” at the time, or an escape route for Thecla out of this dimension and into another.Acquisition
Notes
Collection of DePaul University, gift of Helen T. FindlayMade/Created
Notes
Creation Date: June, 1961Ethnography
Notes
United States
North America, United StatesLexicon
Legacy Lexicon
Object Name
Mixed MediaClass
MIXED MEDIADimensions
Dimension Description
SheetWidth
20.32 cmLength
40.64 cmDimension Description
frameWidth
13 inLength
21 inExhibition
Julia Thecla: Undiscovered WorldsInterpretative Labels
Label
Parachute Drop
Thecla, Julia
June, 1961