San Diego Museum of Art - Harvest Spirit

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Harvest Spirit

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Harvest Spirit

Donal Hord (AKA Donald Albert Horr), American, (February 26, 1902–June 29, 1966)

Creation date: 1951

Creation place: United States

Other Information

Type: Rosewood Sculpture

Medium and Support: Rosewood

Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Nathan Paine

Accession Number: 1954.31

State/Province: California

Dimensions: 51 in. x 9 in. x 9 1/2 in. (129.54 cm x 22.86 cm x 24.13 cm)

Provenance

Mrs. Nathan Paine, La Jolla, California ( - July 19, 1954)

San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California (July 19, 1954 - )

Label Copy

March 2003
American Installation
D. Scott Atkinson

Donal Hord attended the Santa Barbara School of Arts from 1926 to 1928, then enrolled for a term at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia; he later studied at the Beaux Arts Institute in New York. After his studies, Hord returned to San Diego, where he stayed for the remainder of his life. His artistic vision was shaped not only by his formal training, but also by his attraction to the ancient cultures of Mexico, which he had studied avidly since his boyhood.

Hord gravitated to exotic stones and hardwoods that were known for being difficult to carve as large-scale sculptures. His favorite material was Mexican rosewood. Harvest Spirit is a late work that demonstrates Hord’s mastery of this difficult material. The extraordinary striding figure symbolizes autumn and the harvest of crops; he walks through stylized rows of grain and carries a stalk of corn. Hord used the figure as a metaphor for a natural phenomenon, personified as a Native American, and credited native cultures not only with heroic, ideal physicality but with an acute understanding of the cycles and rhythms of nature.
Last Updated: 11/25/2013

Exhibition

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Donal Hord Exhibition , 10/1/1972 - 10/30/1972

Donal Hord , 11/1/1981 - 12/1/1981

Donal Hord—Transcending the Solid San Diego Historical Society , 3/19/1999 - 10/30/1999

Modern and Contemporary , 12/21/2013 - 00/00/00

Art of the Americas San Diego Museum of Art , 12/23/2013 - 00/00/00

Bibliography

This object has the following bibliographic references:

Priscilla McGeehon, ed. Donal Hord— Kales Press. Carlsbad, California, 1999
Page Number: 114, Figure Number: 114

Priscilla McGeehon, ed. Donal Hord— Kales Press. Carlsbad, California, 1999
Page Number: 136, 139 no. 119

The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego Catalogue: San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 1960
Page Number: 20, Figure Number: 20

Mr. D. Scott Atkinson. San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California, 2003
Page Number: 224, Figure Number: 224

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This object is a member of the following portfolios:

Sculpture

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