Driftwood and Dying Tree
- Date
- c.1940
- Material
- Tempera on panel
- made in
- Michigan, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 333
- Dimensions
- 18 × 24 in. (45.7 × 61 cm)
framed: 25 × 32 in. (63.5 × 81.3 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of John and Susan Horseman, in honor of Melissa Wolfe, Curator of American Art
- Rights
- © Estate of Zoltan L. Sepeshy
- Object Number
- 108:2019
NOTES
Sharp, angular limbs jut out from a piece of driftwood and cast a craggy shadow onto the rippled surface of the surrounding bleached sand. The painting’s close-up view and rather unnerving hyperrealism seem to transform the object into an animated creature.
The artist, Zoltan Sepeshy, came to the United States alone as a 13-year-old Hungarian immigrant. Sent to his uncle in Detroit, Sepeshy became a noted teacher and artist in that city. Though depicting the perfectly normal shore of Lake Michigan along the artist’s summer home in Frankfort, the painting’s crisp, overly realist style calls into question the stability of this everyday world.
The artist, Zoltan Sepeshy, came to the United States alone as a 13-year-old Hungarian immigrant. Sent to his uncle in Detroit, Sepeshy became a noted teacher and artist in that city. Though depicting the perfectly normal shore of Lake Michigan along the artist’s summer home in Frankfort, the painting’s crisp, overly realist style calls into question the stability of this everyday world.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at [email protected].