Isis Ardor (Primary Title)
Jules Olitski, American, born Russia, 1922 - 2007 (Artist)
“If only I could spray some color into the air and somehow it would remain suspended, that’s what I would want. Just color by itself.” —Jules Olitski
Like his fellow Color-Field painters Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, Olitski eliminated all traces of the artist’s hand from his paintings, allowing paint to soak into the canvas rather than applying it with a brush.
Olitski explored color and shape rather than representation, working with what he called “pure color.” Staining the canvas also joined the paint medium and its support more closely together, helping Olitski to push the limits of the all-over painting techniques initiated by Jackson Pollock and other Abstract Expressionists.
Post-Painterly Abstraction, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, April 23 – June 7, 1964; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, July 14 – August 16, 1964; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, November 20, 1964 – January 3, 1965
Jules Olitski, Poindexter Gallery, New York, NY, 1962
[1] Olitski had solo exhibitions at Poindexter Gallery, New York in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1967.
[2] Contemporary Art. Christie, Manson, & Woods, New York, Evening Sale, May 16, 1980. New York: Christie, Manson & Woods International, Inc, 1980. Auction catalogue. Lot #33, listed as the property of The Abrams Family Collection.
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