1960s

Question 1

Answer 1

“Cubi VI”

• David Smith, 1964
• Part of Smith’s Cubi series
• The Cubis are among Smith’s final experiments in his progression toward a more simplified, abstract form of expression.
• Although the Cubis are abstract works composed of geometric shapes, they are ambiguously figural.
• “Cubi VI” appears to be standing on a pair of crossed legs.

Question 2

Answer 2

“Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue I”

• Barnett Newman, 1966
• This is large scale abstract expressionism, well representative of Newman’s later art with bright, vibrant colors and a large canvas.
• Asymetrical aesthetic insult- although yellow and blue are the primary colors that should work best with red they are not harmonious in this painting.

Question 3

Answer 3

“Broken Obelisk”

• Barnett Newman, 1967
• A meditation on ancient Egypt.
• Here, Newman bypassed the Western associations of pyramids and broken columns with death, and produced a life-affirming image of transcendence.

Question 4

Answer 4

“Bridge”

• Kenneth Noland, 1964
• Post-painterly abstraction
• Distinct from abstract expressionism. “Bridge” favors cleanness and openness of the canvas. Hard and defined lines.

Question 5

Answer 5

“Where”

• Morris Louis, 1960
• Post-painterly abstractionism
• Clean lines and fun colors suggest the distillation of childhood- less “serious” than the Rotkoian abstractionists.

Question 6

Answer 6

“The Gate”

• Hans Hofmann, 1960
• Abstract expressionism.
• Hofmann’s art work is distinguished by a rigorous concern with pictorial structure, spatial illusion, and color relationships.

Question 7

Answer 7

“Swan Lake #2”

• Helen Frankenthaler, 1961
• More illustrative expressionism
• The work depicts a large area of blue paint on the canvas, with breaks in the color that are left white. These negative spaces resemble birds, perhaps swans, sitting on a body of water.
• There is a very rectilinear brown square that encompasses the blue, balancing both the cool tones of the blue with the warmth of the brown, and the gestural handling of the paint with the strong linearity of the square.

Question 8

Answer 8

“Black Grey Beat”

• Gene Davis, 1964
• Washington Color School/Post-Painterly Abstraction
• Uniquely set apart by the backdrop of a black canvas
• Harkens to video

Question 9

Answer 9

“Big A”

• Jack Bush, 1968
• Associated with the Color Field movement and Post-painterly Abstraction.
• Bush has applied the colours so thinly that the texture of the canvas is visible through the pigment.
• Colors overlap each other and sometimes do not meet, exposing minute amounts of canvas.

Question 10

Answer 10

“Voice of Fire”

• Barnett Newman, 1967
• Abstract expressionism
• Limiting his colours to red and blue, Newman created this powerful vertical canvas to be suspended from the dome’s ceiling.
• While it appears simple in form, “Voice of Fire” conveys a range of meanings.

Question 11

Answer 11

“Triptych Bleu I, II, III”

• Joan Miró, 1961
• Large scale oil triptych
• Miró painted with this shade of blue because it was the color of a surreal, ethereal night, reminiscent of dreaming.
• Miró includes the dynamic red line on the left side of the painting, conveying a sharp shock in the calm blue surface. He also employs the series of bold, defined black dots radiating out from the red line in a horizontal flow to transmit the motion of the line through the whole expanse of the canvas.