Urgent Museum Notice

Summer Dryad

Close up of Summer Dryad

Tall, rectangular, pillar-like sculpture, painted in vibrant green hues on a smooth, clean surface.
Tall, rectangular, pillar-like sculpture, painted in vibrant green hues on a smooth, clean surface.
Anne Truitt, Summer Dryad, 1971; Acrylic on wood, 76 x 13 x 8 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of the Holladay Foundation; © Anne Truitt

Despite her use of referential titles like Summer Dryad, Anne Truitt did not intend her sculptures as direct representations or even abstractions of something. She wanted them to express deep meaning through a simple visual vocabulary.

Truitt covered her three-dimensional geometric wood sculptures, which she considered three-dimensional paintings, with layers of saturated colors. In this way, she sought to evoke emotions, sensations, and memories associated with color.

The bright green hue of Summer Dryad (a feminine being linked to trees and forests within Greek mythology), evokes plants, grasses, or leaves within the natural landscape.

Artwork Details

  • Artist

    Anne Truitt
  • Title

    Summer Dryad
  • Date

    1971
  • Medium

    Acrylic on wood
  • Dimensions

    76 x 13 x 8 in.
  • Donor Credit

    Gift of the Holladay Foundation
  • Photo Credit

    © Anne Truitt
  • On Display

    No