The #UMMAmakeupChallenge is here!
UMMA and our Student Engagement Council is inviting you to create a makeup look inspired by pieces from the Museum’s collection. So find your perfect foundation, select an artwork below (or any from our collection) that speaks to your soul, and get to blending.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be the next big beauty influencer with a ring light and perfect contouring skills to participate - all attempts from any skill level, gender, or age are welcome!
To submit your work, select an inspiration piece from the works below (or any available in the Museum online collections database), put on your best smokey eye inspired by the piece, and post the look to Instagram — tag @UMMAMuseum and use the hashtag #UMMAMakeupChallenge to make sure we see it. You can also DM us your makeup look directly if you’d prefer.
STEP 1 - Choose an inspo
Accession Number
1973/1.813
Title
Sunset Corner
Artist(s)
Helen Frankenthaler
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1969
Medium & Support
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions
121 in. x 92 7/8 in. x 1 1/2 in. ( 307.34 cm x 235.9 cm x 3.81 cm )
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Label copy
Helen Frankenthaler is one of the most important pioneers of postwar American painting. A major figure in the Color Field movement, which features large expanses of strong, abstract colors, Frankenthaler experimented with poured pigments and staining techniques in order to focus attention on color values and eliminate the potential distractions of brushwork for the viewer.
In "Sunset Corner," highly saturated blocks of intense color are "freed" from the crafted bounds of figurative shapes and surface textures. The result is a purely visual experience, not unlike viewing a spectacular sunset. Color Field work like Frankenthaler’s is frequently put to the service of chromatic sensation—something the viewer can experience through a sustained and concentrated immersion in the colored areas of this painting.
(A. Dixon, 20th Century Gallery installation)
Subject matter
The subject matter of this Color Field painting is primarily the visual experience of the colors, their relationships to one another. With its title, "Sunset Corner," the painting prompts the viewer to reflect on the oranges and yellows of sunset and the vastness of the sky.
Physical Description
A vast surface of orange yields in the very bottom of the painting to a swath of yellow, under which there is a line of white and green, and under that a thin black line.
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Primary Object Type
abstract
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
1973/1.813
Title
Sunset Corner
Artist(s)
Helen Frankenthaler
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1969
Medium & Support
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions
121 in. x 92 7/8 in. x 1 1/2 in. ( 307.34 cm x 235.9 cm x 3.81 cm )
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Label copy
Helen Frankenthaler is one of the most important pioneers of postwar American painting. A major figure in the Color Field movement, which features large expanses of strong, abstract colors, Frankenthaler experimented with poured pigments and staining techniques in order to focus attention on color values and eliminate the potential distractions of brushwork for the viewer.
In "Sunset Corner," highly saturated blocks of intense color are "freed" from the crafted bounds of figurative shapes and surface textures. The result is a purely visual experience, not unlike viewing a spectacular sunset. Color Field work like Frankenthaler’s is frequently put to the service of chromatic sensation—something the viewer can experience through a sustained and concentrated immersion in the colored areas of this painting.
(A. Dixon, 20th Century Gallery installation)
Subject matter
The subject matter of this Color Field painting is primarily the visual experience of the colors, their relationships to one another. With its title, "Sunset Corner," the painting prompts the viewer to reflect on the oranges and yellows of sunset and the vastness of the sky.
Physical Description
A vast surface of orange yields in the very bottom of the painting to a swath of yellow, under which there is a line of white and green, and under that a thin black line.
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Primary Object Type
abstract
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Helen Frankenthaler
Sunset Corner
acrylic on canvas
121 in. x 92 7/8 in. x 1 1/2 in. ( 307.34 cm x 235.9 cm x 3.81 cm )
Museum Purchase
Sunset Corner
acrylic on canvas
121 in. x 92 7/8 in. x 1 1/2 in. ( 307.34 cm x 235.9 cm x 3.81 cm )
Museum Purchase
Accession Number
1969/2.11
Title
Rosy Mood
Artist(s)
Adolph Gottlieb
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1967
Medium & Support
serigraph on paper
Dimensions
24 5/8 x 18 5/8 in. (62.5 x 47.3 cm);32 1/8 x 26 1/8 in. (81.44 x 66.2 cm);25 1/8 x 19 1/8 in. (63.7 x 48.5 cm);24 11/16 x 18 11/16 in. (62.55 x 47.31 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Clark
Label copy
In the late 1930s, Adolph Gottlieb relocated to Arizona from his native New York City to paint for the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project. After two years in the Southwest, Gottlieb returned to the East Coast and soon embarked on a very different artistic path. Though he quickly abandoned the Social Realism championed by this federal program in favor of a European-influenced abstraction, the effect of his time in Arizona—particularly his exposure to the colors and space of the desert landscape—would emerge over the coming decades as a central motif in his work. Beginning in the 1940s, Gottlieb created paintings called "pictographs"—grid-like patterns of imaginary signs and symbols that suggest primitive mythologies with connections to both the Far East and the indigenous art of the Americas. The following decade brought an evolution from this highly stylized grid to a less dense, more abstract space known as his "imaginary landscape" series. This series further evolved beginning in the late 1950s with his "bursts," which were characteristically composed of a floating sphere hovering above a gestural mass.
Rosy Mood is a fine example of Gottlieb’s signature "bursts." The warm palette of terracotta red, deep rose, and rich black evoke the colors of twilight in the Southwest. Despite the soothing colors, there is an undercurrent of energy in this composition that emanates from the two central forms. In the "burst" series, the orb is often interpreted as a sun or moon floating above an earthlike mass whose shape seems to suggest a sense of vibration and, perhaps, internal unrest. Given the newly emerging environmental movement of the time, the notion of earth’s fragility is perhaps a significant factor influencing the creation of this series.
Katie Weiss, Research Assistant, on the occasion of the exhibition The New York School: Abstract Expressionism and Beyond and Beyond, July 20, 2002 – January 19, 2003
Primary Object Classification
Print
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
1969/2.11
Title
Rosy Mood
Artist(s)
Adolph Gottlieb
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1967
Medium & Support
serigraph on paper
Dimensions
24 5/8 x 18 5/8 in. (62.5 x 47.3 cm);32 1/8 x 26 1/8 in. (81.44 x 66.2 cm);25 1/8 x 19 1/8 in. (63.7 x 48.5 cm);24 11/16 x 18 11/16 in. (62.55 x 47.31 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Clark
Label copy
In the late 1930s, Adolph Gottlieb relocated to Arizona from his native New York City to paint for the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project. After two years in the Southwest, Gottlieb returned to the East Coast and soon embarked on a very different artistic path. Though he quickly abandoned the Social Realism championed by this federal program in favor of a European-influenced abstraction, the effect of his time in Arizona—particularly his exposure to the colors and space of the desert landscape—would emerge over the coming decades as a central motif in his work. Beginning in the 1940s, Gottlieb created paintings called "pictographs"—grid-like patterns of imaginary signs and symbols that suggest primitive mythologies with connections to both the Far East and the indigenous art of the Americas. The following decade brought an evolution from this highly stylized grid to a less dense, more abstract space known as his "imaginary landscape" series. This series further evolved beginning in the late 1950s with his "bursts," which were characteristically composed of a floating sphere hovering above a gestural mass.
Rosy Mood is a fine example of Gottlieb’s signature "bursts." The warm palette of terracotta red, deep rose, and rich black evoke the colors of twilight in the Southwest. Despite the soothing colors, there is an undercurrent of energy in this composition that emanates from the two central forms. In the "burst" series, the orb is often interpreted as a sun or moon floating above an earthlike mass whose shape seems to suggest a sense of vibration and, perhaps, internal unrest. Given the newly emerging environmental movement of the time, the notion of earth’s fragility is perhaps a significant factor influencing the creation of this series.
Katie Weiss, Research Assistant, on the occasion of the exhibition The New York School: Abstract Expressionism and Beyond and Beyond, July 20, 2002 – January 19, 2003
Primary Object Classification
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Adolph Gottlieb
Rosy Mood
serigraph on paper
24 5/8 x 18 5/8 in. (62.5 x 47.3 cm);32 1/8 x 26 1/8 in. (81.44 x 66.2 cm);25 1/8 x 19 1/8 in. (63.7 x 48.5 cm);24 11/16 x 18 11/16 in. (62.55 x 47.31 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Clark
Rosy Mood
serigraph on paper
24 5/8 x 18 5/8 in. (62.5 x 47.3 cm);32 1/8 x 26 1/8 in. (81.44 x 66.2 cm);25 1/8 x 19 1/8 in. (63.7 x 48.5 cm);24 11/16 x 18 11/16 in. (62.55 x 47.31 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Clark
Accession Number
2000/2.17
Title
Untitled
Artist(s)
Richard Haas
Object Creation Date
1967
Medium & Support
acrylic on canvas, mounted on particle board in 5 parts
Dimensions
23 1/2 in. x 3 ft. 11 5/8 in. (59.69 x 120.97 cm);24 3/8 in. x 4 ft. 5/8 in. (61.91 x 123.51 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of James Adley & Alison McMaugh
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
2000/2.17
Title
Untitled
Artist(s)
Richard Haas
Object Creation Date
1967
Medium & Support
acrylic on canvas, mounted on particle board in 5 parts
Dimensions
23 1/2 in. x 3 ft. 11 5/8 in. (59.69 x 120.97 cm);24 3/8 in. x 4 ft. 5/8 in. (61.91 x 123.51 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of James Adley & Alison McMaugh
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Richard Haas
Untitled
acrylic on canvas, mounted on particle board in 5 parts
23 1/2 in. x 3 ft. 11 5/8 in. (59.69 x 120.97 cm);24 3/8 in. x 4 ft. 5/8 in. (61.91 x 123.51 cm)
Gift of James Adley & Alison McMaugh
Untitled
acrylic on canvas, mounted on particle board in 5 parts
23 1/2 in. x 3 ft. 11 5/8 in. (59.69 x 120.97 cm);24 3/8 in. x 4 ft. 5/8 in. (61.91 x 123.51 cm)
Gift of James Adley & Alison McMaugh
Accession Number
2011/2.107
Title
Florecitas
Artist(s)
Emilio Sanchez
Object Creation Date
1997
Medium & Support
color lithograph on paper
Dimensions
9 in. x 15 5/8 in. ( 22.86 cm x 39.69 cm )
Credit Line
Gift of the Emilio Sanchez Foundation
Physical Description
A color print of flowers in a silver vase. The flowers are bright shades of purple, red, orange, and gold.
Primary Object Classification
Print
Primary Object Type
color print
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
2011/2.107
Title
Florecitas
Artist(s)
Emilio Sanchez
Object Creation Date
1997
Medium & Support
color lithograph on paper
Dimensions
9 in. x 15 5/8 in. ( 22.86 cm x 39.69 cm )
Credit Line
Gift of the Emilio Sanchez Foundation
Physical Description
A color print of flowers in a silver vase. The flowers are bright shades of purple, red, orange, and gold.
Primary Object Classification
Primary Object Type
color print
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Emilio Sanchez
Florecitas
color lithograph on paper
9 in. x 15 5/8 in. ( 22.86 cm x 39.69 cm )
Gift of the Emilio Sanchez Foundation
Florecitas
color lithograph on paper
9 in. x 15 5/8 in. ( 22.86 cm x 39.69 cm )
Gift of the Emilio Sanchez Foundation
Accession Number
2018/2.136
Title
Enigma
Artist(s)
Adja Yunkers
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1981
Medium & Support
acrylic, paint, and string on canvas
Dimensions
16 ⅛ in x 20 in (40.96 cm x 50.8 cm);15 ¾ in x 19 ¾ in (40.01 cm x 50.17 cm);14 ½ in x 18 ½ in (36.83 cm x 46.99 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Alice Aznavorian Simsar
Physical Description
Abstract image with shades of purple darkening the piece from top to bottom. Braided string is attached to canvas in horizontal lines on lower half.
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
2018/2.136
Title
Enigma
Artist(s)
Adja Yunkers
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1981
Medium & Support
acrylic, paint, and string on canvas
Dimensions
16 ⅛ in x 20 in (40.96 cm x 50.8 cm);15 ¾ in x 19 ¾ in (40.01 cm x 50.17 cm);14 ½ in x 18 ½ in (36.83 cm x 46.99 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Alice Aznavorian Simsar
Physical Description
Abstract image with shades of purple darkening the piece from top to bottom. Braided string is attached to canvas in horizontal lines on lower half.
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Adja Yunkers
Enigma
acrylic, paint, and string on canvas
16 ⅛ in x 20 in (40.96 cm x 50.8 cm);15 ¾ in x 19 ¾ in (40.01 cm x 50.17 cm);14 ½ in x 18 ½ in (36.83 cm x 46.99 cm)
Gift of Alice Aznavorian Simsar
Enigma
acrylic, paint, and string on canvas
16 ⅛ in x 20 in (40.96 cm x 50.8 cm);15 ¾ in x 19 ¾ in (40.01 cm x 50.17 cm);14 ½ in x 18 ½ in (36.83 cm x 46.99 cm)
Gift of Alice Aznavorian Simsar
Accession Number
2016/2.205
Title
IBM Latin America
Artist(s)
Paul Rand
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1981
Medium & Support
silkscreen on paper
Dimensions
36 in x 21 3/4 in (91.44 cm x 55.25 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips
Subject matter
The poster juxtaposes pithy language about the value of IBM with multi-colored rectangles of varying lengths. The visuals are illustrative of IBM’s innovative and playful spirit. The collage of overlapping rectangles connotes a certain technological prowess because of the relationship of abstraction with technology. The range of bright colors suggests that IBM is relatable and fun. The linearity of the rectangles and their apparent movement towards the text associates IBM with progression and highlights the text, which further describes IBM’s goals.
EC 2017
Physical Description
A poster with text at the bottom related to IBM's vision, mission, and goals. The text concludes with "IBM..Latin America." From the top, a series of colored bars extend downward, colored pink, purple, green, yellow, and red (left to right).
Primary Object Classification
Print
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
2016/2.205
Title
IBM Latin America
Artist(s)
Paul Rand
Artist Nationality
American (North American)
Object Creation Date
1981
Medium & Support
silkscreen on paper
Dimensions
36 in x 21 3/4 in (91.44 cm x 55.25 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips
Subject matter
The poster juxtaposes pithy language about the value of IBM with multi-colored rectangles of varying lengths. The visuals are illustrative of IBM’s innovative and playful spirit. The collage of overlapping rectangles connotes a certain technological prowess because of the relationship of abstraction with technology. The range of bright colors suggests that IBM is relatable and fun. The linearity of the rectangles and their apparent movement towards the text associates IBM with progression and highlights the text, which further describes IBM’s goals.
EC 2017
Physical Description
A poster with text at the bottom related to IBM's vision, mission, and goals. The text concludes with "IBM..Latin America." From the top, a series of colored bars extend downward, colored pink, purple, green, yellow, and red (left to right).
Primary Object Classification
Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Paul Rand
IBM Latin America
silkscreen on paper
36 in x 21 3/4 in (91.44 cm x 55.25 cm)
Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips
IBM Latin America
silkscreen on paper
36 in x 21 3/4 in (91.44 cm x 55.25 cm)
Gift of Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo and Maria Phillips
STEP 2 - Submit your look
Choose one or more of the following submission methods:
-
Post your look to your main feed with the hashtag #UMMAmakeupchallenge and tag @ummamuseum
-
Post your look to your story with the hashtag #UMMAmakeupchallenge and tag @ummamuseum
-
DM us your makeup look
*By using the #UMMAMakeupChallenge hashtag, or submitting your look, you give UMMA permission to repost your photo on our instagram feed and/or the UMMA website.
STEP 3 - Remind yourself how beautiful you are
No matter how the look turns out (but let’s be honest, it’s going to be great), use your time in front of the mirror to admire just how beautiful you truly are, with or without makeup.
SUBMISSIONS
Jenny Ruan - Bowery Morning
“I chose Al Loving’s Bowery Morning as inspiration for a makeup look because at first I was attracted to the colors and believed the image would translate to a makeup look really nicely, but as I was deciding which of the many UMMA artworks to pick, I read up a bit more about Al Loving and about the UMMA abstraction exhibition and became attached to this piece of work.
I had a lack of understanding about the many meanings that abstract work can have before this little project and I wanted to then show my newfound appreciation of abstraction with my makeup and, since Al Loving was a graduate from the University of Michigan, I also liked the idea of showing a little U of M loyalty too."
Courtesy of Jenny Ruan