The Annotated Mona Lisa: Pages 170 - 171

Question 1

Hard Edge

Answer 1

• calculated, impersonal abstraction

- uses sharply contoured, simple forms

Question 2

Albers: The Square Squared

Answer 2

• Josef Albers
• 1888-1976
• obsession was one color’s effect on another
• he concentrated on variations of the most neutral, stable form he could find: the square

Question 3

Noland: On Target

Answer 3

• Keneth Nodland
• b. 1924
• started with circles than moved to brightly colored chevrons
• he attempted to erase his personal identity from his canvases by the use of controlled designs

Question 4

Kelly: Performing Masses

Answer 4

• Ellsworth Kelly
• b. 1923
• combines giant, simple shapes so they almost oscillate
• he sets up a fluctuating tension between static/dynamic and closed/open forms

Question 5

Stella: Mechanical Drawing

Answer 5

• Frank Stella
• b. 1936
• first established his identity with a series of black-striped paintings consisting of sooty pinstripes separated by narrow white bands