A Rainbow Tree

Rockne Krebs

1938–2011

A Rainbow Tree, 1970

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: color lithograph

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 431.8 x 558.8 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 17 x 22 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 24 x 32 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: National Endowment for the Arts and Friends of the Museum

Accession number: 1972.0074

Not on display

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Artist Rockne Krebs was interested in using light as a tool to create natural sculptures. This drawing shows an idea that he had to invent a “rainbow tree” by spraying water through sprinklers around and above the tree. Krebs wrote and drew all over his picture as he thought through his ideas. Color is created by light waves that bounce off objects and enter the eye. A red apple is red because red light waves bounce off the apple rather than being absorbed. White light is made up of all the colors of the rainbow. A rainbow is created when light hits moisture in the air, causing its speed and direction to change. At certain angles, the human eye will see the arc shape created by the light in the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The position of the viewer will change the shape of the rainbow. For example, if you are in an airplane above the rain, the rainbow will appear to be a circle. Describe a time when you saw a rainbow. How did it look? Where did you see it? What was the weather like? Develop your own idea for creating a rainbow. Draw pictures and write down your thoughts as you work through your ideas.

Exhibition Label: "Rockne Krebs: Drawings for Sculpture You Can Walk Through," Aug-2013, Steve Goddard Jay Belloli, a gallery director and friend of Krebs’, explained the artist’s series of drawings of “Rainbow Trees”: In this group of works Krebs explores the idea of creating a spectrum above a single tree through a system of sprayed water, representing the expected effect with richly worked areas of color. These works on paper also include an expanded amount of notetaking, revealing a desire on Krebs’ part to investigate an increasing number of each project’s possibilities.” Krebs’ artist friend Sam Gilliam commented, “When Robert Rauschenberg saw the 'Rainbow Tree,' he actually cried. He said, ‘That's something I wish I had done.’”