This exuberant oil painting by American artist Keith Morrow Martin (b. 1911 d. 1983) is tectonic, setting waves of motion to the calmer areas, and one of the few examples of a work that took several years to complete. Martin has been classified as an abstract artist, Magic Realist, and Surrealist although he occasionally painted or drew portraits. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Martin attended the Art Institute of Chicago then traveled and studied through pre-war Europe, settling for long periods of time in Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, and Vienna. During WWII he was stationed in Iceland. After the war he returned to Paris and was one of the first American artists to exhibit in that recovering city. He traveled back to New York in the late 40s, then moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he continued to reside for 35 years. “Still Life” is not still at all, neither in its composition nor its palette, nor its brushwork. The off-angle of the bottom support, the pressurized objects above the tilted line, the compartmentalized tokens and objects are powerfully rendered. Martin’s works are  in numerous collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in D.C., the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. 

Signed: monogram KM upper left corner

Medium: oil on canvas

Size of stretcher: 36” x 48” Size of outside frame: 37 1/4” x 49 1/4”

Years of Creation:  1963-1967

 Condition: The painting has been cleaned and a fresh dammar varnish applied. There are no losses nor inpaint, the linen is taut. The stretcher, support, ground, and paint layers are all in excellent condition.