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According to Patti Smith, this drawing was informed by her interest in Oscar Wilde, one of the most important playwrights of late Victorian England and an iconoclastic cultural icon. The name "Cyril" written on the drawing three times refers to Wilde’s son, and the approach to his rendering recalls the freedom of children's drawings. Smith wrote that her lifelong college friend, poet Janet Hamill, "LOVED Oscar and I made a series of these [drawings] to amuse her.” The rest were likely lost or destroyed. Made when the artist was twenty years old, the sketch coincided with the time shortly before she gave birth to a child who was put up for adoption.
Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Rocking Horse
Patti Smith (American, born in 1946)
1967
Medium/Technique
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 15 3/4 x 12 in.
Framed: 22 3/4 x 16 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.
Framed: 22 3/4 x 16 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.
Credit Line
Gift of Jay Reeg and Jan Colombi in honor of Madeleine Reeg
Accession Number2006.1220
CollectionsContemporary Art, Americas, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsDrawings
According to Patti Smith, this drawing was informed by her interest in Oscar Wilde, one of the most important playwrights of late Victorian England and an iconoclastic cultural icon. The name "Cyril" written on the drawing three times refers to Wilde’s son, and the approach to his rendering recalls the freedom of children's drawings. Smith wrote that her lifelong college friend, poet Janet Hamill, "LOVED Oscar and I made a series of these [drawings] to amuse her.” The rest were likely lost or destroyed. Made when the artist was twenty years old, the sketch coincided with the time shortly before she gave birth to a child who was put up for adoption.
ProvenanceThe artist; to Gotham Book Mart & Gallery, New York; purchased by Jay Reeg, 1986; gift to the MFA, Boston, June 21, 2006.