Norman Lewis Bonfire Card

Throughout his career, artist Norman Lewis created abstract works that connected with the realities of the lives of African Americans. Sharp, abstracted figures surround a vibrant orange center in Norman Lewis’s Bonfire.

The title implies a congregation of people whose motivation could be either sinister, as in a gathering of the Ku Klux Klan, or celebratory. Lewis’s use of abstraction engaged with the sociopolitical realities of the 1960s while simultaneously focusing on nuances of color, line, and gesture. He experimented with this balance throughout his career, beginning with figural depictions and moving toward more abstract compositions.

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One Blank Card with White Envelope
6 7/16 × 4 1/2 in.
This notecard is printed on 300gsm Munken (textured) paper. 

Norman Lewis (1909–1979)
Bonfire, 1962
Oil on canvas
64 × 49 7/8 in.
The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of the Estate of Norman Lewis  1981.1.2