One Night at Jimmy's We Saw the Supremes on Color Television (Primary Title)

Willie Anne Wright, American, born 1924 (Artist)

Educational
1967
American
Liquitex on canvas
Overall: 36 7/16 × 48 5/8 × 1 3/8 in. (92.6 × 123.5 × 3.5 cm)
67.15.4
Not on view

We’re living in an exciting period—a period of change. Value patterns are changing and to me it’s fascinating. —Willie Anne Wright

Of the same generation as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, Wright finished her MFA in painting at Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University) in 1964, just as Pop Art began to take hold outside New York. Here Wright quotes Matisse with bold, overlapping floral motifs and a domestic scene, but unlike Matisse’s Parisian interiors, Wright’s setting is distinctly American with a TV as its focal point. When network television converted from black and white to color in 1965, the Supremes were a favorite musical group on The Ed Sullivan Show and other widely viewed programs. A keen observer of popular media and an avid fan of soul music, Wright translates this “period of change” into a singular visual composition.

General Endowment Fund
Virginia Artists' Biennial, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1967
Collection of the artist, Richmond, Virginia; Purchased by Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia in March of 1967.
© Willie Anne Wright

Artist Profile: Willie Anne Wright
10:06

Willie Anne Wright shares about her work and process.

Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.