Positano

Media - 1969.47.4 - SAAM-1969.47.4_1 - 65162
Copied Will Barnet, Positano, 1960, oil on canvas, 57 x 42 1⁄4 in. (144.8 x 107.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.4

Artwork Details

Title
Positano
Artist
Date
1960
Location
Dimensions
57 x 42 1⁄4 in. (144.8 x 107.3 cm)
Markings
backing upper right stamped: (illegible) backing upper right stamped: DOUNE/PARIS/CHAPELLE backing upper right in felt-tipped pen and ink: BARNET/"POSITANO" stretcher in felt-tipped pen and ink: 24966=2
Credit Line
Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Nonrepresentational
  • Abstract — geometric
Object Number
1969.47.4
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1969.47.4

Artwork Description

Will Barnet painted Positano in New York based on his memory of a moonlit night along Italy's southern coast. He had created monumental abstract canvases for several years and was about to return to painting human figures. This work hints at the shapes of heads and arms silhouetted against a luminous sky, but the darker forms themselves also suggest the vastness of a pitch-black night. In this way, the two principal areas of color shift back and forth from solid forms to empty spaces.
Luce Object Quote

". . . I'm a great believer in limitations. The better you understand limitations, the greater an artist you can become." Barnet, interview with Jordana Pomeroy, 1990

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