Richard Pousette-Dart | Symphony No. 1, The Transcendental | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Richard Pousette-Dart American

1941–42

Not on view

Monumental in scale and densely and thickly painted, Pousette-Dart’s Symphony No. 1, The Transcendental represents a remarkable synthesis of Cubism, biomorphic Surrealism, and 1930s mural painting. Organized upon an uneven grid, the composition consists of circles, teardrops, ovals, arcs, diamonds, and crosses in a rhythmic spread of black, white, and earth tones with points of bright color. Identifiable subjects appear—perhaps a bird at lower left, or some primitive weaponry at upper left—but also fade away. The musical title suggests the artist’s desire to create in paint a grand, intensely personal aesthetic experience, like an orchestral symphony.