1957
American
oil on canvas
United States
Unframed: 42 × 60 in. (106.68 × 152.4 cm)
Framed: 42 3/4 × 60 3/4 in. (108.59 × 154.31 cm)
58.13.4
Not on view
Gottlieb sought to express deep, subconcious levels of thought and emotion through abstract shapes and colors. Blue at Night belongs to a series that he called 'imaginary landscapes." In each, a horizon line divides the canvas. The jostling shapes filling the upper section exemplify Abstract Expressionism's emphasis on dynamic brushwork, while the expanse of blue signals the movement's focus on fields of pure color.
John Barton Payne Fund
Coming to Light: Avery, Gottlieb, Rothko, Provincetown Summers 1957-1961, Knoedler Gallery, New York, NY, May 2 - August 15, 2002

Adolph Gottlieb: A Retrospective, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, April 24 - June 6, 1981; The Tampa Museum, Tampa, FL, August 15 - October 17, 1981; The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, November 7 - December 19, 1981; Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, TX, January 9 - February 20, 1982; Flint Institute of Art, Dewaters Art Center, Flint, MI, March 18 - April 24, 1982; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, May 15 - June 19, 1982; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, July 10 - August 21, 1982; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, September 11 - October 31, 1982; Tel Aviv Museum, Israel, November 23 , 1982 - January 9, 1983

Adolph Gottlieb, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, February 14 - October 20, 1968

Adolph Gottlieb, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, April 27 - June 9, 1963; Bienal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, September - December 1963; Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, NY, February 18 - March 4, 1963

American Painting 1958, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, March 28 - April 27, 1958

Adolph Gottlieb: New Work, Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY, January 3 - 31, 1958
(Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York) by 1958; Purchased by Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond, Virginia in April of 1958. [1]

[1] Accessioned April 7, 1958. See VMFA Curatorial file.
©artist or artist’s estate

Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.