In The Clouds

Name/Title

In The Clouds

Entry/Object ID

5212

Description

Curving sky scene with four distinct, horizontal sections: dark colored terrain on the bottom, bright orange clouds, clear blue sky, and larger dark blue-grey clouds at the top.

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil on Canvas

Context

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 Findlay

Made/Created

Artist

Thecla, Julia

Date made

1960

Ethnography

Notes

United States North America, United States Chicago

Lexicon

Legacy Lexicon

Class

PAINTINGS

Dimensions

Dimension Description

canvas

Width

36 in

Length

36 in

Dimension Description

frame

Width

37-1/2 in

Depth

1-1/2 in

Length

37-1/2 in

Exhibitions

Past Present: DePaul Builds An Art Collection
Julia Thecla: Undiscovered Worlds
Past Present: DePaul Builds An Art Collection

Interpretative Labels

Label

In The Clouds Thecla, Julia 1960