"I'm a painter." Learn more about the life of Grace Hartigan and her contributions as an artist.

Abstract Expressionism was first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the art world.

In Greek mythology, Pallas Athena is the shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroism.

Here, figural elements emerge from the image, such as the suggestion of a face in the top right, but Hartigan's thick, abstract strokes of paint dominate the canvas. The rich tones of red, brown, and black evoke the earth, spreading across the lower half of the canvas, and the jumbled mass of color at the top may represent the confusion and noise of the realm of the gods. (Barber, "Making Some Marks," quoted in Mattison, Grace Hartigan: A Painter's World, 1990)

View other paintings by Grace Hartigan in the collection of the American Art Museum.

lithograph on paper sheet: 19 7/8 x 26 in. (50.6 x 66.1 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Museum purchase 1966.43

Hartigan looked for everything that was "vulgar and vital" in American culture to fuel her abstract paintings.