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Morris Louis, Beta Upsilon, 1960, acrylic on canvas, 102 1⁄2 x 243 1⁄2 in. (260.4 x 618.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1980.5.6
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Beta Upsilon
- Artist
- Date
- 1960
- Location
- Dimensions
- 102 1⁄2 x 243 1⁄2 in. (260.4 x 618.5 cm)
- Markings
- stretcher lower left in felt-tipped pen and ink: 130 x 12 stretcher upper left in felt-tipped pen and ink: ML #347 102 ¼ x 20'-3" "Beta Upsilon" stretcher upper right in felt-tipped pen and ink: #3-47 102 ¼ x 20'-3"
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- acrylic on canvas
- Keywords
- Nonrepresentational
- Abstract
- Object Number
- 1980.5.6
Artwork Description
Recently conserved, this majestically scaled work has not been seen in public for more than thirty years. Morris Louis created it by directing streams of paint down the sides of the canvas, allowing the color to soak into the fibers. He left the central expanse blank, a bold choice that creates much of the composition's visual tension.
Louis produced all of his most influential paintings in the last five years of his life. He worked in the dining room of his house in Northwest DC, a space so small he could only unroll a single canvas, or part of a canvas, at a time.