Untitled, 1977; Watercolor and graphite on canvas board; Signed Kenneth Noland and dated 1977 in graphite pencil lower left; Framed with two linen liners and a white wood frame.
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In October of 1952 Helen Frankenthaler, after a trip to Nova Scotia, had a breakthrough with a painting entitled "Mountains and Sea." The painting was abstract and rather than painting the landscape that she saw on her trip, the work portrayed the experience itself. The abstract image was painted using a "soak stain" technique, whereby unprimed canvas duct is painted using oil paint that had been heavily thinned with turpentine. The effects of the technique reinforced the abstract nature of the landscape painting; and when the artists Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis saw it in her studio in New York, their own painting styles were forever changed.
On the train ride back to Washington DC, Noland and Louis realized that Frankenthaler's painting was their key to finding their own paths. Each made the decision to disregard all his own prior work and begin fresh. Noland stated, "We were interested in Pollock but could gain no lead from him. He was too personal. But Frankenthaler showed us a way - a way to think about and use color." Morris Louis found is structure for his color field paintings first with the unfurl series; and soon after Kennth Noland found his, with the circle paintings. "I knew what a circle could do. Both eyes focus on it. It stamps itself out, like a dot. This, in turn, causes on's vision to spread, as in a mandala in Tantric art," Kenneth Noland.
The circle paintings in the 1960's were Noland's first color format; but would be followed over the years by chevrons, strips, plaids, and irregular painting series. Noland would return to these early formats in the 1990's using opaque and bold acrylics, however the soak stain technique from the 1960's are by far his greatest achievement.
Close-up without the frame
In 1977 the famous art critic and writer Kenworth Moffett published, probably the best, monograph on Kenneth Noland. On several of the canvas board covers, Noland painted his iconic circle paintings and this is one of those paintings. The circles of color are applied in such a way as to bleed from their edges making the color float above it's ground. The center purple is applied heavy to force the eyes deep into the center of the canvas, that is then surrounded by unpainted canvas. Next, is iconic use of blue and pink of the same light value, that Noland had used in so many works in the past. The blue stains into either side of it's unpainted canvas and next you can see the pencil line followed by white paint. The junction between the white and the pink is jagged creating a wonderful optical effect! The small amount of white is then followed by a controlled application of the pink, such that it does not bleed past it's clean outer circular perimeter.
The price of Kenneth Noland circle paintings is extremely high, in some cases reaching over a million dollars for works from the 1960's. Because this was done in 1977 the price is less, however it is a wonderful way to acquire an iconic stain color field painting!
Signature and date
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