Artwork Page for Red Blue

Details / Information for Red Blue

Red Blue

1962

Ellsworth Kelly

(American, 1923–2015)
Culture
America
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 230 x 178 x 4 cm (90 9/16 x 70 1/16 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 228.6 x 176.4 cm (90 x 69 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1964.142
Copyright
© Ellsworth Kelly
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
224A Contemporary Corridor
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Did You Know?

Kelly's abstract shapes were often based on observed reality, such as the plants that he kept in his studio.

Description

Red Blue is all about the relation of two different colors and two different forms. On the surface of the canvas, two elements come together, interact with each other, and affect each other’s appearance. The arrangement of the two colors red and blue, which work to intensify one another, is one essential component of the work. The other is the confrontation of two different forms: The edges of one shape-the blue rectangle-are given by the edges of the canvas and are therefore logical and measurable, while the organic form of the red color field, despite the clean, precise rendering, seems to breathe and float, activating the composition as a whole. In this way, even though there is no trace of the artist’s hand, the painting refers to very natural and organic forms and ways of perception.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a solid red blob on a solid blue background. The paint is flat and smooth, the red blob curves in from our right side of the canvas, arcing down into the left side of the canvas, more so into the lower left than upper right. A sliver of blue shows in the lower right corner.

Red Blue

1962

Ellsworth Kelly

(American, 1923–2015)
America

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