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Maker(s):Corbett, Edward
Culture:American (1919-1971)
Title:Painting for Puritans
Date Made:1955-57
Type:Painting
Materials:Oil on canvas
Place Made:North America; United States; Massachusetts; South Hadley
Measurements:frame: 62 1/4 x 57 1/4 x 1 1/4 in.; 158.115 x 145.415 x 3.175 cm; stretcher: 61 1/4 x 57 in.; 155.575 x 144.78 cm
Narrative Inscription:  61 1/2 X 56 5/8 X
Accession Number:  MH 1960.206.I(b).PI
Credit Line:Gift of the artist
Museum Collection:  Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
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Description:
Abstract composition, white overall, with hints of red; thin black line runs horizontally throught the center of canvas.

Label Text:
During his time as a professor at Mount Holyoke College, Edward Corbett began a monochromatic series of paintings titled “Paintings for Puritans,” which consisted of white-on-white canvases that evidence the artist’s proclivity toward subtle color. Indeed, Corbett’s technique in this early painting became critical in later work, where deep layers of white are combined with other colors.

In 1962, Corbett was part of MoMA’s hugely significant "Fifteen Americans" exhibit alongside Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. First enamoured with landscape paintings, the artist gradually abstracted his compositions to nothing more than a horizon line, and in his “Paintings for Puritans” series, to simple surfaces and subtle effects. Despite the shock of viewers to his 1956 New York exhibition of “Paintings for Puritans,” who were accustomed to the bold and colorful works of then popular Action Painters, Corbett remained faithful in his layered minimal style. (SSW)

Tags:
abstract; Christianity; emotion; humor; nonrepresentational art; religion; satire; monochrome

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+1960.206.I%28b%29.PI

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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