FILTER RESULTS × Close
by Artist (5)
by Object Type (4)
Skip to Content
NEHMA logo
Showing 2 of 8

Print this page

This object does not have an image.

Claire Falkenstein

American
(1908–1998)

Untitled
1940

Oil on canvas
10.75 x 14.875 in. (27.305 x 37.783 cm)
Gift of Rachael Dunaven Yocom
1987.296

Known for her ability to manipulate metal and glass into flowing and seemingly flexible structures, Falkenstein’s sculptures provide commentary on contemporary issues, natural occurring phenomena, and abstract notions of space and time. This series of Untitled works showcase her early experiments in modernism, which art historian Susan M. Anderson characterized as “biomorphic abstraction with a surrealist edge.”

Born in Oregon in 1908, Falkenstein pursued her Bachelors of Art with minors in Anthropology and Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, completing it in 1930. Continuing her education, Falkenstein studied at Mills College, where she worked under Alexander Archipenko, and collaborated with fellow artists including Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Gyorgy. In addition to making art, Falkenstein taught at University of California Berkeley, Extension, Mills College, California Labor School and the California School of Fine Arts where she met and worked alongside with artists Clyfford Still and Richard Diebenkorn who became close friends and strong artistic influences with their abstract expressionist styles. In 1934, Falkenstein began creating large-scale commissioned pieces that continued to be central throughout her career.

Keywords
Click a term to view the records with the same keyword
This object has the following keywords:
abstraction, biomorphic, bird, blue, gestural, green, modernism, oil paint, yellow

Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Also found in
Click a portfolio name to view all the objects in that portfolio
This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Thumbnail image of Looking Backward & Forward: Forty Years with NEHMA & What’s Next
Looking Backward & Forward: Forty Years with NEHMA & What’s Next

Your current search criteria is: Keyword is "FW".





This site facilitates access to the art and artifact collections by providing digitally searchable records for thousands objects. The information on these pages is not definitive or comprehensive. We are regularly adding artworks and updating research online. We welcome your comments.