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Smashed Strokes Hope

Joan Snyder American
1971
Not on view
Smashed Strokes Hope belongs to Joan Snyder’s breakthrough series of abstract paintings, sometimes referred to as "stroke paintings" because of the way they emphasize the primacy of the artist’s brushwork. Distinct areas of paint seem to have been sprayed on, smeared on haphazardly (perhaps with a hand or a cloth), or applied carefully to create vertical and horizontal clusters. Prominent drips, smears, and stains appear throughout the canvas. In this riot of color, there is a palpable tension between regularity and irregularity, pattern and chaos, control and spontaneity. Snyder once said, "I wanted to tell a story and I wanted there to be different sections. I wanted a beginning, middle, and end, many different parts, happy, sad, tragic parts, many things happening at once, different instruments, different sounds, rhythms."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Smashed Strokes Hope
  • Artist: Joan Snyder (American, born Highland Park, New Jersey, 1940)
  • Date: 1971
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 72 in. × 12 ft. (182.9 × 365.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Partial and Promised Gift of Stephanie H. Bernheim, in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary, 2017
  • Object Number: 2018.667
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

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My Work
Multiple artists/makers
1997
Resurrection Etching (WP1), Joan Snyder American, Photo etching, soft-ground etching, sugar lift etching, and open bite (with some sections, at left, collaged) on Arches paper
Resurrection Etching (WP1)
Joan Snyder
1978–81
Resurrection Etching (WP5), Joan Snyder American, Photo etching, soft-ground etching, sugar lift etching, open bite, aquatint, and line etching on Arches paper
Resurrection Etching (WP5)
Joan Snyder
1978–81
Resurrection Etching (WP6), Joan Snyder American, Photo etching, soft-ground etching, sugar lift etching, open bite, aquatint, line etching with collage, graphite, and watercolor on Arches paper
Resurrection Etching (WP6)
Joan Snyder
1978–81
Resurrection Etching (WP7), Joan Snyder American, Photo etching, soft-ground etching, sugar lift etching, open bite, color aquatint (from one plate), and line etching on Arches paper
Resurrection Etching (WP7)
Joan Snyder
1978–81

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