© Willliam C. Seitz
On view
Executive Meeting Room
Louise Sams Executive Conference Center
Louise Sams Executive Conference Center
The Polar Outpost,
1952
William C. Seitz, American, 1914–1974
y1982-107
In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Seitz was a dedicated abstract painter. He painted this work while a graduate student at Princeton. Seitz’s layered brushstrokes and the abstract composition that fills the canvas recall the influence of the New York School artists he championed in his writing. As a faculty member at Princeton, Seitz became an advocate for artists, founding the university’s first non-credit, free-form painting studio. The program’s first participants included artists Walter Darby Bannard, Class of 1956, and Frank Stella, Class of 1958; a painting by the latter hangs nearby.
Information
Title
The Polar Outpost
Dates
1952
Maker
Medium
Oil on paper mounted to canvas
Dimensions
84 x 102 cm (33 1/16 x 40 3/16 in.)
frame: 85.4 x 103.8 x 3.2 cm (33 5/8 x 40 7/8 x 1 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Irma S. Seitz in memory of William C. Seitz, Graduate School Class of 1955
Object Number
y1982-107
Signatures
Signed and dated, lower left: Seitz '52
Inscription
Title inked on verso, upper left: The Polar Outpost.
Culture
Type
Subject
Acquired by Irma S. Seitz, by 1982; donated to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1982.
