Grounded Icebergs

Artist
Location
Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland
Date
1931
Materials
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
80 x 101.6 cm
Accession number
2005/156
Locate on map View in timeline About the artist

In this depiction of the icy North, Lawren Stewart Harris explores the drama and beauty of the natural world with bold colors and pared-down shapes. Harris was a deeply spiritual man and devoted much of his life to a belief system called theosophy, which explored the mysteries of being to gain the self-knowledge and wisdom necessary for enlightenment. In the dramatic landscape of the Arctic, he found the ultimate embodiment of nature’s power and beauty. Grounded Icebergs depicts a view Harris encountered in the summer of 1930 during a two-month journey to the Arctic, but he did not execute the work until several months after the excursion had ended.