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Blue on White
1961
Ellsworth Kelly
Born: Newburgh, New York 1923
oil on canvas
85 5/8 x 67 3/4 in. (217.5 x 172.1 cm.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
1969.47.63
Smithsonian American Art Museum
3rd Floor,
East Wing
Kelly's paintings preserve and intensify his memories of things seen swiftly, the fragmented glimpses of "leaves, grass, [and] cracks in the wall." Blue on White is both lyrical and forceful, a huge painting that feels very delicate. At first, the loopy blue shape seems to dominate the white background. But just as quickly, the angular edges of the white appear to cut into the billowy blue. Kelly isn’t interested in assigning meaning to his works. The artist would rather create colors and shapes so intense that they are like three-dimensional objects, and, as he once said, "To hell with pictures."
Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
Keywords
Abstract
painting
paint - oil
fabric - canvas
About Ellsworth Kelly
Born: Newburgh, New York 1923
More works in the collection by
Ellsworth Kelly
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