Banner

Howard Mehring, Banner, 1957, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the Vincent Melzac Collection, 1980.6.13
Copied Howard Mehring, Banner, 1957, acrylic on canvas, 52 1⁄2 x 65 1⁄2 in. (133.4 x 166.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the Vincent Melzac Collection, 1980.6.13

Artwork Details

Title
Banner
Artist
Date
1957
Location
Dimensions
52 1⁄2 x 65 1⁄2 in. (133.4 x 166.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift from the Vincent Melzac Collection
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1980.6.13
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1980.6.13

Artwork Description

During the late 1950s, Howard Mehring based his work on Jackson Pollock’s “drip” paintings. He described his experiments as “stained” Pollocks, because his thin paints penetrated the fibers of the unprimed canvas. Mehring compared his translucent washes of color to the tonalities of music, saying that he wanted to capture the “floating sensation” of jazz in his paintings. (Livingston, Howard Mehring: A Retrospective Exhibition, 1978)