Richard AnuszkiewiczMetallic Water (Unique 1960s Op Art painting shown at Art Institute of Chicago)1964
1964
About the Item
- Creator:Richard Anuszkiewicz (1930, American)
- Creation Year:1964
- Dimensions:Height: 41.5 in (105.41 cm)Width: 41.5 in (105.41 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1745213629492
Richard Anuszkiewicz
“I’m interested,” Richard Anuszkiewicz (1930–2020) once said, “in making something romantic out of a very, very mechanistic geometry.” Anuszkiewicz sought to achieve this romance through works juxtaposing vibrant colors in geometric configurations. The perceptual effects he created helped define the American Op art movement.
Anuszkiewicz studied color theory at Yale under Josef Albers and was greatly influenced by Albers’s approach. “The image in my work has always been determined by what I wanted the color to do,” Anuszkiewicz explained in a 1974 catalogue. “Color function becomes my subject matter, and its performance is my painting.”
He departed from his mentor, however, in the pulsating, illusory qualities he gave his work. One of his most famous paintings, Deep Magenta Square (1978), although similar in composition to Albers’s “Homage to the Square” series, is distinctly Op art in the way the striations surrounding the central square seem to vibrate and jump off the canvas.
Anuszkiewicz spent his entire career exploring optical effects through the manipulation of line and color, producing spectacular and timeless pieces of art. “Working with basic ideas will always be exciting,” he said in 1977. “And if a color or form is visually exciting in any profound sense, it will be that way in 10 or 20 years from now.”
Browse a variety of paintings and prints by Richard Anuszkiewicz at 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Unique 1960s Signed Op Art, Geometric Abstraction painting, for famed composerBy Richard AnuszkiewiczLocated in New York, NYRichard Anuszkiewicz Op Art painting, inscribed to documentary music composer, 1968 Acrylic on Masonite painting. Signed and dated by Richard Anuszkiewicz; inscribed to the film comp...Category
1960s Op Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic, Permanent Marker
- Near and Far Acuity, Mid Century Modern Op Art painting from historic exhibitionBy Richard AnuszkiewiczLocated in New York, NYRichard Anuszkiewicz Near and Far Acuity, 1957 Gouache and watercolor painting Hand signed and dated 1957 by Richard Anuszkiewicz on the right front Frame included Anuszkiewicz' artworks from the late 1950s are rarely found on the market. This historic painting is one of the works that helped launch the artist's career. It was done in 1957 - the year the artist arrived in New York. Near and Far Acuity has been removed from its original frame, and re-framed in an elegant wood frame with conservation materials and UV plexiglass. The original gallery label from The Contemporaries has been preserved and affixed to the new backing, and the collector who acquires this work will also be provided with a copy of the original receipt - signed by Karl Lunde (director of the Contemporaries and author of a major monograph on the artist). Measurements: Frame: 32 x 28 x 2 inches Artwork: 21 x 25 inches This work was first exhibited in the groundbreaking, and career-making 1960 exhibition at The Contemporaries gallery (New York, February 29, 1960 - March 19, 1960) and was featured in the exhibition catalogue, shown in the images here. In his essay entitled "Richard Anuszkiewicz: Color Precisionist" by art historian John T. Spike, he writes, "In the spring of '57, Richard Anuszkiewicz left Ohio for good. "I was ready. I came to New York with a substantial amount of work. I was ready to go around to the galleries and I was prepared because I really had something. I had an idea. I had a series of paintings that showed this idea and I felt good about it and I felt now that's the only place for me to be." A friend helped him get a job touching up the plaster models of classical temples and statues in the Junior Museum of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He took off six months the next year to travel around Europe in a Volkswagen, also seeing some places in North Africa. "When I came back, I remember taking my work around to the galleries and receiving interesting comments — positive comments from the various people. But Abstract Expressionism was very popular. My things were very hard-edged, very strong in color — a use of color that nobody was using. Everybody would say. 'Oh, they are nice, but so hard to look at. They hurt my eyes". Leo Castelli considered him seriously but the gallery was developing a specialization in pop artists like Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. "I can remember going to Martha Jackson and having her look at the work and she would put her hands straight out in front of her and block out parts of the painting with her hand and she'd say, mmm no rest areas." He finally caught on with The Contemporaries Gallery in the fall of 1959. The gallery at 992 Madison Avenue mainly represented new European talent. Karl Lunde, the gallery director, saw some of his canvases hanging...Category
1950s Op Art Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
MaterialsWatercolor, Gouache, Mixed Media
- Artists in the SpotlightBy Tom HollandLocated in New York, NYTom Holland Artists in the Spotlight: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), 1985 Acrylic and mixed media on paper Signed and dated 1985 on ...Category
1980s Contemporary Abstract Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic, Mixed Media
- Mardi GrasLocated in New York, NYMiriam LaTour Shapiro Mardi Gras, 1997 Acrylic and mixed media Hand-signed by artist, signed in acrylic paint on the front Unframed (the work was removed from its original vintage frame, affixed to backing) Miriam Latour Shapiro began painting at the late age of 70 years old. The result was a remarkable series of works, including the present work, documented in a monograph by Colleen Becker called "Mysterious Late Excellence", a referring to that elusive quality that sometimes graces an older artist, as John Berryman wrote memorably of William Carlos Williams...Category
1990s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsMixed Media, Acrylic, Plastic
- Untitled 1980s pastel colored signed abstract mixed media painting on boardBy Will CottonLocated in New York, NYWill Cotton Untitled abstraction, ca. 1989 Mixed media painting on board Signed by the artist on lower right front Elegant recessed hand made frame Included with artist's original plexiglass bearing his markings on it Stunning, rare early signed abstract work on board by renowned artist Will Cotton in delicious candy-like pastel colors. Floated and framed in a white wood shadow box frame with the artist's original painted plexiglass. Measurements: Framed: 26 x 20 x 2.75 inches Artwork: 23.5 x 17 inches More about Will Cotton Will Cotton (born 1965 in Melrose, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) is an American painter whose work primarily features landscapes composed of sweets, often inhabited by human subjects. Will Cotton lives and works in New York City. Cotton’s works from the 1990s depicted pop icons sourced from contemporary advertisements such as the Nestlé Nesquik bunny. Cotton described his early works in a 2008 interview, saying “My initial impulse to make these paintings really came out of an awareness of the commercial consumer landscape that we live in. Every day we’re bombarded with hundreds, if not thousands of messages designed specifically to incite desire within us.” In 1996, Cotton began to develop an iconography in which the landscape itself became an object of desire. The paintings often feature scenery made up entirely of pastries, candy and melting ice cream. He creates elaborate maquettes of these settings from real baked goods made in his Manhattan studio as a visual source for the final works. Since about 2002, nude or nearly nude pinup...Category
1980s Abstract Mixed Media
MaterialsMixed Media, Acrylic, Board
- Untitled (Fraction of Fractions)By Larry BellLocated in New York, NYLarry Bell Untitled (Fraction of Fractions), 2000 Pink, green and black painted elements with applied canvas and paper strips on French watercolor paper Pencil signed and dated lowe...Category
Early 2000s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsFabric, Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic
- Alone in This Together by Andres Ciccone Represented by Prima GalleryLocated in New York, NYAlone in This Together by Andres Ciccone 80 in diameter Acrylic, Ink, Mixed Media, on CanvasCategory
21st Century and Contemporary Op Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic
- RowsBy Julian StanczakLocated in New York, NYRows, 1970, by Julian Stanczak (1928-2017) Acrylic on canvas 27 ¼ x 27 ¼ inches unframed (69.215 x 69.215 cm) 28 ½ x 28 ½ inches framed (72.39 x 72.39 cm) Signed on reverse Dated and...Category
Late 20th Century Op Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic
- Metallic Color Magnetic Continuum. Moon GoldBy Pablo GrissLocated in Berlin, DEMetallic Color Magnetic Continuum. Moon Gold. Gold 22-karat gold leaf and acrylic on linen with oil patina. 106 x 122 x 8 cm The carefully researched colour palette, the strict line...Category
2010s Op Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsGold Leaf
- Richard Anuszkiewicz 1963 Original PaintingBy Richard AnuszkiewiczLocated in San Francisco, CARichard Anuszkiewicz: 1930-2020. Very important and well listed American artist. He has auction results as high as $250,000. He was the leader of what would be called OP Art short fo...Category
1960s Op Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic
- Structure Cubique BBy Yvaral (Jean-Pierre Vasarely)Located in Palo Alto, CAA three dimensional quadratic figure composed of staggered cubes floats amidst a sea of two dimensional squares. In this stunning original acrylic painting, Yvaral plays with the pur...Category
1970s Op Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Acrylic
- Red is a Red, OpArt red geometric acrylic paintingBy Julian StanczakLocated in Beachwood, OHJulian Stanczak (American, 1928–2017) Red is a Red, 1969 Acrylic on canvas Signed, dated and titled verso 28 x 28 inches 29 x 29 inches, framed OpArt red geometric acrylic painting ...Category
1960s Op Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Get to Know the Artists Who Led the Op Art Movement
In the 1960s and '70s, the hypnotic creations of Op artists went mainstream and influenced the look of pop culture.
Welcome (Back) to the Wild, Wonderful World of Walasse Ting
Americans are rediscovering the globe-trotting painter and poet, who was connected to all sorts of art movements across a long and varied career.