Name/Title
Kremlin of KermessEntry/Object ID
2019.14Description
Domed building with three palm trees in front. Human looking forms near the dome. Fire coming from the top of building.Artwork Details
Medium
Oil on ceramic tile in large wood frameContext
Barbara Rossi is considered one of the Chicago Imagists, an influential group of artists who emerged in the late 1960s and 70s. She is best known for drawings and paintings that feature flat, cartoonish yet abstract forms that vaguely resemble characters and architectural spaces. Says Rossi of her formative years developing her technique, “I developed a self-taught way of drawing without a predetermined end. I would start in the middle of the page and make a drawing that was relatively small, and I gave myself the rule of not erasing anything or making any changes, and when I was satisfied with the form at the center, I would begin attaching something that was different from what was drawn first. I never knew ahead of time what would become of these forms, which is why I started calling them ‘magic drawings.’”
Kremlin of Kermess is an early work of Rossi’s, made before the Imagists had become well known. The title refers to a line in Wallace Steven’s 1954 poem “Architecture” and refers to the paradoxical idea of a carnival within a citadel. Here, Rossi depicts a structure resembling the iconic onion domes of Russian architecture, with stick figure revelers inside. The composition is loose yet reveals a few details such as tessellated tiles and paneled doors. Palm tree forms suggest a geographic disparity, alluding to the artist’s later practice of creating imaginary and fantastic scenes unrooted in reality. The work is painted on a ceramic tile, foreshadowing years later when Rossi would paint on Plexiglass as well.Acquisition
Accession
2019.14Source or Donor
Eve MonzingoAcquisition Method
PurchaseCredit Line
Museum purchase, Art Acquisition Endowment FundInscription/Signature/Marks
Location
versoTranscription
Sister Barbara Rossi, RSM, Kremlin of Kermess, 1966Notes
Inscription Type: modern labelLexicon
Getty AAT
Concept
Chicago Imagist, abstraction, forms of expression (artistic concept), artistic concepts, Surrealist, European, ceramics (object genre), object genres (object classifications)Hierarchy Name
Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), Object Genres (hierarchy name)Facet
Styles and Periods Facet, Associated Concepts Facet, Objects FacetLOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Poetry, Architecture, Russian Orthodox churchesDimensions
Dimension Notes
22.68 in. x 22.56 in. x .75 in.Dimension Notes
57.62 cm. x 57.30 cm. x 1.905 cm.