Color Field Totally Explained

Everything about Color Field totally explained

ť In quantum mechanics, color field is a whimsical name for some of the properties of quarks.

Color Field painting is an abstract style that emerged in the 1950s after Abstract Expressionism and is largely characterized by abstract canvases painted primarily with large areas of solid color. An alternate but less frequently encountered term for this style is chromatic abstraction.

Discussion and analysis

Color Field painting initially referred to a particular type of abstract expressionism, especially the work of Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell, Adolph Gottlieb and several series' of paintings by Joan Miró. Art critic Clement Greenberg perceived Color Field painting as related to but different from Action painting. During the early to mid-1960s Color Field painting was the term used to describe artists like Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, and Helen Frankenthaler, whose works were related to second generation abstract expressionism, and to younger artists like Larry Poons, Larry Zox, and Frank Stella, - all moving in a new direction. In 1964 Clement Greenberg curated an influential exhibition that traveled the country called Post-painterly abstraction. The exhibition expanded the definition of color field painting. In the late 1960s Richard Diebenkorn began his Ocean Park series; created during the final 25 years of his career and that are important examples of color field painting. Color Field painting clearly pointed toward a new direction in American painting, away from abstract expressionism. Color Field painting is related to Post-painterly abstraction, Suprematism, Abstract Expressionism, Hard-edge painting and Lyrical Abstraction.
Color Field painting sought to rid art of superfluous rhetoric. Artists like Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Morris Louis, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, Larry Zox, and others often used greatly reduced references to nature, and they painted with a highly articulated and psychological use of color. In general these artists eliminated recognizable imagery. Certain artists quoted references to past or present art, but in general color field painting presents abstraction as an end in itself. In pursuing this direction of modern art, artists wanted to present each painting as one unified, cohesive, monolithic image.
In distinction to the emotional energy and gestural surface marks of Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Color Field painting initially appeared to be cool and austere, effacing the individual mark in favor of large, flat areas of color, which these artists considered to be the essential nature of visual abstraction, along with the actual shape of the canvas, which Frank Stella in particular achieved in unusual ways with combinations of curved and straight edges. However Color Field painting has proven to be both sensual and deeply expressive albeit in a different way from gestural Abstract expressionism.

Paintings

Image:'Magenta, Black, Green on Orange', oil on canvas painting by Mark Rothko, 1947, Museum of Modern Art.jpg|Mark Rothko, Magenta, Black, Green on Orange, 1949 Image:Frankenthaler_Helen_Mountains and Sea_1952.jpg|Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea, 1952 Image:Still 1957 D1.jpg|Clyfford Still, 1957 D1, 1957 Image:Hans Hofmann's painting 'The Gate', 1959–60.jpg|Hans Hofmann, The Gate, 1959-1960 Image:'Alpha-Pi', acrylic on canvas painting by Morris Louis, 1960, Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|Morris Louis, Alpha-Pi, 1960 Image:'Blue Balls', oil on canvas painting by Sam Francis, 1960, Smithsoninn American Art Museum.jpg|Sam Francis, Blue Balls, 1960 Image:BlackGreyBeat.jpg|Gene Davis, Black Grey Beat, 1964 Image:Newman-Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue.jpg|Barnett Newman, Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue? 1966 Image:Frank Stella's 'Harran II', 1967.jpg|Frank Stella, Harrah II, 1967 Image:Bush_Oil.jpg|Jack Bush, Big A, 1968 Image:Richard Diebenkorn's painting 'Ocean Park No.129'.jpg|Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park No.129, 1984 Image:Riteofspring.jpg|Ronnie Landfield, Rite of Spring, 1985

Color Field artists

Further Information

Get more info on 'Color Field'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://color_field.totallyexplained.com">Color Field Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.