Object Details
- Artist
- Ad Reinhardt, born Buffalo, NY 1913-died New York City 1967
- Exhibition Label
- Ad Reinhardt’s comments about art are markers of an aesthetic and intellectual journey from early cubist-inspired compositions to the black rectangles he made for the last seven years of his life. He came to believe that painting is a nonnarrative medium and over the course of two decades purged imagery and even traces of his own hand from his work. The matte black surface of Abstract Painting no. 4 is not read quickly, but close examination reveals subtle blue and plum squares arranged in a cruciform shape. Asked to explain his use of black, Reinhardt replied, “It’s because of its non-color. . . . Color has to do with life.”
- Modern Masters: Midcentury Abstraction from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2008
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
- 1961
- Object number
- 1969.47.71
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on linen
- Dimensions
- 60 1/8 x 60 1/4 in. (152.6 x 152.9 cm.)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Abstract
- Record ID
- saam_1969.47.71
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7b1b1028d-f1fc-441e-b999-191108d19847
