Primal Energy II (River Sounds)
1989
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
oil and acrylic on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 150.18 x 150.18 cm (59 1/8 x 59 1/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection
Accession Number
2007.6.272
Art Historical Context
Edda Renouf's *Primal Energy II ( Sounds)*, created in 1989, is a striking square painting in oil and acrylic on canvas, 59 1/8 59 1/ inches. This intimate yet monumental format draws the viewer into a balanced, meditative space, characteristic of late 20th-century abstract art. The title evokes the raw, flowing vitality of nature—perhaps the rhythmic murmur of a river—inviting contemplation of elemental forces through subtle color and form. Renouf, a-American artist active in New York's vibrant contemporary scene, often explored themes of vibration and energy in her work. The use of both oil...
About the Artist
Edda Renouf
Edda Renouf was born in Mexico City in 1943 to an artistic family — her father, Edward Renouf, was himself a painter. She moved to the United States in 1957 and began her formal training at Sarah Lawrence College in 1961, later earning her Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University, where she studied under the painter Richard Pousette-Dart. A year spent at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Mu...