1962
American
acrylic on canvas
Overall: 80 × 66 in. (203.2 × 167.64 cm)
85.430
Not on view

“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.

Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis
The Harry N. Abrams Family Collection, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY, June 29 – September 5, 1966

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
(Poindexter Gallery, New York). [1] Harry N. Abrams Family Collection, New York; (Christie, Manson & Woods, New York) by 1980; [2] Purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Sydney and Frances Lewis, Virginia, in May of 1980; Gift to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond, Virginia, in December of 1985.

[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.
©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.