Proust's Sea 2006

Pat Lipsky made this painting, Proust’s Sea, using acrylic on canvas. The abstract blocks of muted color suggest a landscape divided into earth and sky, but it is the title that really intrigues. Marcel Proust’s multi-volume novel, In Search of Lost Time, is a landmark of early 20th-century literature, renowned for its use of memory and the senses to explore themes of time, art, and society. Lipsky’s painting was made in a very different social and institutional context. By the 1970s, the canon of abstract art was well established in museums and galleries, especially in America. Her choice of an abstract style was not a radical gesture, but a contribution to an existing tradition. Yet, the reference to Proust, a novelist known for his sensitivity to beauty and his critique of social hierarchies, adds a layer of meaning. The art historian must consider how the painting builds on traditions and how it engages with a specific moment. Examining exhibition catalogues and critical reviews can tell us how the work was received at the time. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.