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Anne Truitt
AWallforApricots.jpg
A Wall for Apricots, 1968
Born
Anne Dean

(1921-03-16)March 16, 1921
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died December 23, 2004(2004-12-23) (aged 83)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nationality American
Known for Sculpture, Color Field
Movement Minimalism

Anne Truitt (March 16, 1921 – December 23, 2004) was an American artist. She was born Anne Dean. She became famous in the 1960s for her large, simple sculptures. These sculptures are often called Minimalist art.

Unlike many artists of her time, Anne Truitt made her sculptures by hand. She didn't use big factories or industrial methods. Her art often showed memories and feelings from her past. For example, some of her early sculptures looked like giant pieces of a white picket fence.

Early Life and Learning

Anne Truitt grew up in Easton, Maryland. She also spent her teenage years in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1943, she earned a degree in psychology from Bryn Mawr College. She even worked briefly as a nurse in a hospital.

In the mid-1940s, she decided to change her path. She started writing stories and then took art classes in Washington, D.C. In 1947, she married a journalist named James Truitt. They later divorced in 1971.

Her Art and Style

After leaving psychology, Truitt started making sculptures. At first, they looked like people or objects. But in 1961, she visited the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. There, she saw paintings by artists like Barnett Newman and Ad Reinhardt. She was amazed by their use of large, simple colors and spaces. This visit completely changed her art. She realized she could use "enough space. Enough color."

Two, 1962, Anne Truitt at NGA
Two (1962) at the National Gallery of Art in 2022

Truitt's first wood sculpture was called First (1961). It looked like a white picket fence. It had three pointed white boards, held up by a post and rails. All parts were connected to a white base. This sculpture showed her memories of fences from her childhood. It wasn't a copy of one specific fence, but an idea of all fences she had seen.

From 1964 to 1967, she lived in Japan with her husband. During this time, she made sculptures from aluminum. However, before a big art show in New York, she decided she didn't like them and destroyed them.

Goldsborough, 1974, Anne Truitt at NGA
Goldsborough (1974) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2022

The sculptures that made her famous were simple, painted wooden structures. They were often large and looked like tall, rectangular columns or pillars. Truitt would draw her designs, and then a skilled cabinetmaker would build the wooden shapes. These structures were often hollow, allowing the wood to "breathe."

Truitt's painting process was very special. She would apply a base coat, then up to 40 layers of acrylic paint! She painted in alternating horizontal and vertical strokes. After each layer, she would sand the surface smooth. This made the colors look perfectly even, with no brush marks. The many layers of paint gave the surface a real sense of depth.

Her sculptures were placed on slightly hidden platforms. This made them look like they were floating just above the ground. This made it hard to tell where the sculpture ended and the floor began. Truitt believed that colors themselves held a special feeling or "vibration." When colors were used purely in art, they could make you feel something specific, like a memory.

Truitt also created drawings. For many years, she used pencil, acrylic, and ink. Some of these drawings were ideas for her sculptures, but many were also artworks on their own.

She also wrote three books: Daybook, Turn, and Prospect. These books were her personal journals. In Prospect, she thought about her life as an artist, a daughter, a mother, and a teacher.

For many years, Anne Truitt was a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. She also worked at Yaddo, an artists' colony.

Anne Truitt passed away on December 23, 2004, in Washington, D.C. She was 83 years old.

Her Impact

Anne Truitt's art showed new ways of seeing and understanding things. Her sculptures, with their simple shapes and deep colors, helped people think about how objects connect to our memories and feelings. She proved that art can be both simple and very powerful.

Art Shows

Anne Truitt had her first solo art show in New York in February 1963. Her work was also part of an important exhibition in 1964 called "Black, White, and Gray." In 1966, she was one of only three women included in the famous "Primary Structures" show at the Jewish Museum (Manhattan) in New York.

Her art has been shown in many museums, including:

In 2009, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., held a large show of her work. It included 49 sculptures and 35 paintings and drawings. Her art was also shown at the National Gallery of Art from 2017 to 2018.

Where to See Her Art

Anne Truitt's sculptures and paintings are in many museums and collections across the United States. Here are some places where you can see her work:

  • Arizona:
    • Summer Treat, 1968, University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson
  • North Carolina:
  • Virginia:
    • Signal, 1978, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Richmond

See Also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anne Truitt para niños

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