Installing 'The Rose' by Jay DeFeo: Behind the Scenes | “Untitled” (America)

This is how a 1,500+ pound artwork makes its way onto our gallery walls. To create this massive artwork, Jay DeFeo added thick layers of paint to her canvas, carved into it, then added more paint. Sometimes she chiseled the paint all the way back to the surface of the canvas. For 8 years, she repeated this process of application and removal—lore has it that DeFeo put beads, string, or other small objects into The Rose, but none of those objects have been found in the final work. The Rose is back on view as part of our seventh floor exhibition "Untitled" (America). This exhibition features renowned works from the Whitney’s collection alongside recent acquisitions, highlighting key ideas and approaches in American art from 1900 through the early 1980s.