Architectural Variation

Ilya Bolotowsky, Architectural Variation, 1949, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.4
Ilya Bolotowsky, Architectural Variation, 1949, oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.4

Artwork Details

Title
Architectural Variation
Artist
Date
1949
Location
Dimensions
20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract — geometric
Object Number
1986.92.4
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.92.4

Artwork Description

The solemn cadence of Architectural Variation comes from the relationships among blocks of muted color. Bolotowsky had the idea, he said, of “creating a counterpoint of colors,” that would work together like one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s contrapuntal motifs. The painting has the order and regularity of an urban plan seen from above, in which buildings and streets are schematically aligned. Bolotowsky could not resist a personal touch—he signed the lower right edge and, like a spot of graffiti, “tagged” the upper left edge with brushy strokes of blue.

Modern Masters: Midcentury Abstraction from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2008

Works by this artist (2 items)

George Grosz, Sixth Avenue, 1934, pen and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1969.180
Sixth Avenue
Artist
Date1934
pen and ink on paper
Not on view
George Grosz, A Hunger Fantasy, ca. 1947, watercolor and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.40, © 1947, George Grosz
A Hunger Fantasy
Artist
Dateca. 1947
watercolor and ink on paper
Not on view