The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 26, 2025
Violet-Green
1964
(American, 1932–2010)
Framed: 122.6 x 92.7 x 12.7 cm (48 1/4 x 36 1/2 x 5 in.); Unframed: 122 x 91.5 cm (48 1/16 x 36 in.)
Gift of Frank Stella 1978.163
© Estate of Craig Kauffman / Artists Right Society (ARS), New York
Location: Not on view
Description
Los Angeles-based artist Craig Kauffman has been creating vacuum-formed plastic wall reliefs since the 1960s, when he gained notoriety as a so-called Finish Fetish artist. Members of this West Coast movement used technological processes and materials, such as polymer, plastics, and paints, to create smooth, high-gloss works of art. For example, the native southern California tradition of customizing surfboards, boats, and automobiles with painted flames and panoramic scenes influenced Kauffman and his fellow Californian Don Eddy. Like the minimalist artists who gained notoriety later in the 1960s, Kauffman's super-slick, clean-edged aesthetic was achieved by adapting industrial manufacturing processes to art making. Here, the art object is a section of injection-molded plastic. While the "painting's" smooth surface and iridescent, Day-Glo green color are visually enticing, the object itself does not invite the viewer to touch and appreciate its physicality.- Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979)."Year in Review 1978," The Cleveland Museum of Art (1979). The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art LXVI (Jan. 1979), p. 45, cat. no. 119.
- {{cite web|title=Violet-Green|url=false|author=Craig Kauffman|year=1964|access-date=26 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1978.163