Blackness in Art
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, blackness is defined as
"the quality of being very dark, or an area of darkness." I will discuss.
Incorporating or emphasizing black in art is modernistic and signals an austere mood.
American artist Alex Katz (b. 1927-) best known for his large figurative paintings.
He painted a series of "black" or "night" paintings which emit a silence and sense of distance. In his words, "the moment the last light fades to black."
Katz painted cityscapes such as "City Night" (1998), a monochromatic painting of bare branches in the foreground and an office building in the background with a few lighted windows. This can be seen at the Tate, London.
His "Study for Wet Evening" (1986) shows buildings with the common theme of lit windows. This painting can be seen at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Katz said of his painting "Black Scarf" (1995), it was his "last great" portrait of his wife Ada. It can be seen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Alex Katz was inspired by the Mediterranean surrounding the city of Venice, Italy. His 2022 seascape series of nine (9) paintings "Ocean 14" and "Ocean 8" for example, are in black in white (by artist's choice) of rippling ocean surfaces.
Black dominated the work of other illustrious artists
Jackson Pollack used the color black primarily in his paintings.
Example: "No. 1, Lavender Mist" (1950), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Willem de Kooning's "Black and White Rome S" (1959), The Menil collection, Houston, TX
Robert Motherwell's "Elegy to the Spanish Republic 108" (1965-67), Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) NY
Franz Kline's "Painting No.7" (1952), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY
Ad Reinhardt's "Abstract Painting No. 5" (1962), Tate, London, UK
Robert Rauschenberg's "Untitled (gloss black four panel painting)" (1951), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA
)
Mark Rothko's "Untitled (black on gray)"(1969-70), Guggenheim Museum, NY
Kazmir Malevich's "Black Square" (1915), Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Frank Stella's "Die Fahne hoch!" or "Raise the Flag!" (1959), Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Stella famously said, "You see what you see."
"the quality of being very dark, or an area of darkness." I will discuss.
Incorporating or emphasizing black in art is modernistic and signals an austere mood.
American artist Alex Katz (b. 1927-) best known for his large figurative paintings.
He painted a series of "black" or "night" paintings which emit a silence and sense of distance. In his words, "the moment the last light fades to black."
Katz painted cityscapes such as "City Night" (1998), a monochromatic painting of bare branches in the foreground and an office building in the background with a few lighted windows. This can be seen at the Tate, London.
His "Study for Wet Evening" (1986) shows buildings with the common theme of lit windows. This painting can be seen at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Katz said of his painting "Black Scarf" (1995), it was his "last great" portrait of his wife Ada. It can be seen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Alex Katz was inspired by the Mediterranean surrounding the city of Venice, Italy. His 2022 seascape series of nine (9) paintings "Ocean 14" and "Ocean 8" for example, are in black in white (by artist's choice) of rippling ocean surfaces.
Black dominated the work of other illustrious artists
Jackson Pollack used the color black primarily in his paintings.
Example: "No. 1, Lavender Mist" (1950), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Willem de Kooning's "Black and White Rome S" (1959), The Menil collection, Houston, TX
Robert Motherwell's "Elegy to the Spanish Republic 108" (1965-67), Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) NY
Franz Kline's "Painting No.7" (1952), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY
Ad Reinhardt's "Abstract Painting No. 5" (1962), Tate, London, UK
Robert Rauschenberg's "Untitled (gloss black four panel painting)" (1951), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA
)
Mark Rothko's "Untitled (black on gray)"(1969-70), Guggenheim Museum, NY
Kazmir Malevich's "Black Square" (1915), Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Frank Stella's "Die Fahne hoch!" or "Raise the Flag!" (1959), Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. Stella famously said, "You see what you see."
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