Description:
medium blue vertical outer bands with a wider, lighter blue inner band
Label Text:
While Barnett Newman is generally considered an Abstract Expressionist rather than a Minimalist, his inexpressive and object-like paintings and prints greatly influenced the development of Minimalism in the 1960s. Newman’s non-gestural paintings of the 1940s and 1950s were derided by artists and critics alike. By the 1960s, however, Newman found a sympathetic audience in a generation of young artists who were developing the new Minimalist style. Even though Newman imbued his art with metaphysical undertones, often referenced in his titles, these young artists admired the powerful presence of his stark monochromatic paintings interrupted by his characteristic “zips” (vertical stripes). Perhaps most important to these young artists was Newman’s emphasis on the viewer’s individual perceptual and physical experience. According to Minimalist sculptor Richard Serra, “When you reflect upon a Newman, you recall your experience, you don’t recall the picture.”
Newman made relatively few prints, but his 1966 silkscreen print on Plexiglas The Moment is remarkable in its distinct presence as an object. This print’s unique technique, shape, and mounted display make it rather easy for the viewer to mistake it for a painting or sculpture. To his satisfaction, screenprinting on Plexiglas allowed Newman to make a print without margins around the image, which he was unable to achieve in his lithographs and etchings on paper. Consequently, The Moment boldly coexists in the viewer’s space in a similar manner to the prints, paintings, and sculptures made by Minimalist artists.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1976.52.2 |
