A Break in the Clouds
Artist:
Kyra Markham
(American, 1891 - 1967)
Date: 1961
Medium: Oil on masonite
Dimensions:
Framed: 23 × 27 in. (58.4 × 68.6 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Mary E. Walker in honor of Myrtle Agnew Walker
Object number: 2023.5.8
Signed: Signed Kyra Markham and dated '61 (lr)
Copyright: © Estate of Kyra Markham
Provenance: Acquired from Doyle, Tue, Mar 12, 2019, lot 2096, by The MAW Gallery, Austin, TX.
Label Text
A Break in the Clouds is a seemingly realistic landscape but carries with it an air of Surrealism. The trees in the foreground are striking. They have survived the passing of a storm suggested by the dark, foreboding clouds that are just now giving way to the piercing light of the sun. Their foliage is sparse, and what does remain seems strained by gusts of wind that pull tirelessly beyond the picture plane. The abundance of foliage below only amplifies the nakedness of the trees.
Kyra Markham studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, eventually leaving to become an actress, and later resumed her studies at the Art Students League in New York. Her work varied in style from social realism—portraying people in their daily pursuits, including musicians, actors, and down-on-their-luck street dwellers—to the more surreal. After moving to Haiti in 1960, she focused on scenes of her adopted home, as seen here.
(Regina Palm, 2024)
Kyra Markham studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, eventually leaving to become an actress, and later resumed her studies at the Art Students League in New York. Her work varied in style from social realism—portraying people in their daily pursuits, including musicians, actors, and down-on-their-luck street dwellers—to the more surreal. After moving to Haiti in 1960, she focused on scenes of her adopted home, as seen here.
(Regina Palm, 2024)
On view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
