Ellsworth KellyBlack/White/Black1970
1970
About the Item
- Creator:Ellsworth Kelly (1923, American)
- Creation Year:1970
- Dimensions:Height: 42.25 in (107.32 cm)Width: 29.75 in (75.57 cm)
- More Editions & Sizes:Edition of 75Price: $9,850
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Philadelphia, PA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1523214220682
Ellsworth Kelly
Ellsworth Kelly was one of the key figures in postwar American art, exercising major influence on the fields of Pop art, minimalism, Color-Field and hard-edge painting. Widely known for his brightly colored geometric compositions, he was among the first artists, alongside his contemporary Frank Stella, to use irregularly shaped canvases. Although highly abstract, Kelly’s paintings and prints are precise expressions in color and form of his sensory experience of the world.
Kelly's works, both two- and three-dimensional, are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and displayed at such sites as the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Kelly grew up in the town of Newburgh, New York, near the Oradell Reservoir. He was an avid birder as a child and loved the colorful illustrations of naturalist John James Audubon. Encouraged to study art by a high school teacher, he enrolled at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, remaining there until 1943, when he was inducted into the army. During World War II, he served along with scores of other artists, in a unit known as the Ghost Army, where he learned the elements of camouflage while creating ersatz trucks and tanks intended to mislead Axis forces.
When the war was over, Kelly took advantage of the G.I. Bill to study painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, drawing inspiration from the museum's collections, and, later, at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, in Paris. While in France, he immersed himself in the varied artistic movements and styles represented there and befriended Americans avant-gardists, such as composer John Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham, as well as the German-French Surrealist Jean Arp and Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși.
Upon his return to the United States, in 1954, he found himself at odds with the dominant style of the period, Abstract Expressionism, which favored a dynamic and energetic application of paint in a loose manner. Like Stella, Kelly was interested in formal precision and explorations of color. Following an exhibition of his work at the Betty Parsons Gallery in 1956, Kelly’s work was included in the "Young America 1957” show at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
During the 1960s, Kelly played with color and form to tease out and celebrate the tension between a painting’s subject and its background. In one of his most famous works, 1963's Red Blue Green, for example, two shapes, one red, one blue, both contrast and resonate with a green background that extends to the edge of the canvas on both sides, appearing at moments to be the work’s primary shape. To explore this relationship between form and ground further, Kelly began using nontraditional, shaped canvases, as in the monochromatic 1966 Yellow Piece, from, whose two curved corners draws the eye to the wall behind it, as though the gallery wall itself were part of the composition. A lithograph from the same period, Blue and Orange consists of two shapes in the title’s complementary colors facing off against one another with a tension that makes them appear almost animated.
Kelly made drawings and prints throughout his career, using plants and flowers as his primary source of inspiration. Like his paintings, his drawings tend to be relatively flat in perspective, but they are rarely abstract. A 1993 drawing of an oak leaf is clearly representational, but rendered with very minimal color and line. In the mid-1960s, he produced the series “Suite of Twenty-Seven Lithographs” with the Paris-based Maeght Éditeur.
Later, collaborating with Gemini G.E.L., he created very large-scale works, such as 1988’s Purple/Red/Gray/Orange, which is 18 feet long and might be one of the biggest lithographs ever made. Kelly produced 140 sculptures, including the aluminum White Curves, created for the Fondation Beyeler, in Riehen, Switzerland, in 2002. In his three-dimensional works, as in his paintings, Kelly used form, color and light to play with perceptions of surface and depth, inviting viewers to look closely and see the world in a new way.
Find original Ellsworth Kelly art on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Ardmore, PA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Reflections on MinervaBy Roy LichtensteinLocated in Philadelphia, PARoy Lichtenstein Reflections on Minerva 1990 Lithograph, screenprint, relief, and metalized PVC collage with embossing on mold-made Somerset paper Signed, numbered, and dated in pen...Category
1990s Pop Art More Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Screen
- Four Seasons of Hope (Silver)By Robert IndianaLocated in Philadelphia, PARobert Indiana Four Seasons of Hope (Complete set of 4) Screen print on paper Edition of 125 Hand signed and numbered in pencil Mint condition in the original blue silk portfolio caseCategory
2010s Modern More Prints
MaterialsScreen
- George's Sweet InspirationsBy George RodrigueLocated in Philadelphia, PAGeorge Rodrigue George's Sweet Inspirations From the rare limited edition of 150 Original serigraph on paper Hand signed and numbered 2000 20x16 inches MINT CONDITIONCategory
Early 2000s Animal Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Screen
- Flowarh$By Mr. BrainwashLocated in Philadelphia, PAMr. Brainwash b.1966 Flowarh$ 2021 Screenprint in colors image: 21⅜ h × 21½ w in (54 × 55 cm) sheet: 24⅜ h × 24⅜ w in (62 × 62 cm) Signed and numbered to left and lower edges ‘Mr. Br...Category
2010s Prints and Multiples
MaterialsScreen
- Untitled from URGE (Powder Blue)By KAWSLocated in Philadelphia, PAKAWS Untitled from Urge (Powder Blue) From the rare limited edition of 250 Original Silkscreen on paper Hand signed and numbered MINT ConditionCategory
2010s Prints and Multiples
MaterialsScreen, Lithograph
- Santa Claus (from the Myths series)By Andy WarholLocated in Philadelphia, PAAndy Warhol 1928–1987 Santa Claus (from the Myths series) 1981 screenprint in colors with diamond dust on Lenox Museum Board 37⅞ h × 37⅞ w in (96 × 96 cm) Signed and numbered to low...Category
1980s Prints and Multiples
MaterialsScreen
- "Aquella tarde al verse en el espejo" by Antonio Saura, Black and Grey AbstractBy Antonio SauraLocated in Köln, DEScreenprint by Antonio Saura "Aquella tarde al verse en el espejo.." from "Diversaurio", 1962 77,5 x 55,2 cm Copy 52 Edition of 85 Antonio Saura (Hue...Category
1960s Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
- "Moi je veux vivre monotone" by Patrick Caulfield, Screenprint, Pop Art, PurpleBy Patrick CaulfieldLocated in Köln, DE"Moi je veux vivre monotone" is from the series "Some poems by Jules Laforgue". Patrick Caulfied was deeply inspired by these poems and found to his very own depiction of these poems...Category
1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
- "Couleur Additive Perseus" by Carlos Cruz-Diez, 21st Century, Optical ArtBy Carlos Cruz-DiezLocated in Köln, DE"Couleur Additive Perseus" has a stunning appearance and an optical effect, which catches the beholder's attention from the very first time. Carlos Cruz-Diez from Venezuela was one o...Category
2010s Op Art Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
- Untitled from "Kinderstern" - Max Bill, Hard Edge, Color Field, Bright ColorsBy Max BillLocated in Köln, DEScreenprint by Max Bill. From the portfolio "Kinderstern". No Title, 1989 76 x 58 cm Copy 61/100 Edition of 100 (approx.)Category
1980s Abstract Geometric Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
- Untitled from "Kinderstern" - Dmitri Alexandrowitsch Prigow, Screenprint, MoscowLocated in Köln, DEScreen print by Dmitri Alexandrowitsch Prigow from the portfolio "Kinderstern". "No Title", 1989 76 x 58 cm Copy 61/100 Edition of 100 (approx.)Category
1980s Conceptual Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen
- Untitled, from ‘The International Association of Art Portfolio’By Max BillLocated in Llanbrynmair, GBUntitled, from ‘The International Association of Art Portfolio’ By Max Bill Medium - Screen print Edition - 3/25 Signed - Yes Size - 640mm x 460mm Date...Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Prints
MaterialsScreen