Jan Stussy, Landscape, 1959, Graphite on paper, 29 x 22 in. UC Irvine Institute and Museum of California Art, Gift of Maxine Stussy Frankel
Landscape
Jan Stussy
Landscape (1959)
Gifted by Maxine Stussy Frankel
Jan Stussy (1921 – 1990)
Artist, film producer, and arts educator Jan Stussy took an eclectic, figurative approach to his work that went against the grain of Abstract Expressionism, the dominant style of the post-war period. His idiosyncratic paintings and drawings of contorted figures bring together cubist, surrealist, and expressionist characteristics. Landscape, a graphite work on paper, illustrates the importance of Chinese and Japanese art for Stussy, an interest passed down to him from his mentor, Stanton Macdonald-Wright. It demonstrates Stussy’s commitment to draftsmanship, something he espoused as an educator as a core element of an arts curriculum.
Year acquired: 2021