Ad Reinhardt

Private Collection, Dallas
Sotheby's, New York, May 9, 1996, lot 156
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of light wear and handling along the edges and a minor indentation to the stretcher which corresponds to a corner join along the lower left edge. There is very fine hairline craquelure visible in the central I-shaped expanse of paint and in the upper left quadrant, all of which appear to be stable. The variations within some of the blue pigments are related to a varied density in paint application by the artist, resulting in a few minor cloudy streaks on the surface. Under very close inspection, a few unobtrusive pinpoint spot accretions are visible. In the lower left rectangle, three very small green spots appear to be areas of inpainting and fluoresce darkly under Ultraviolet light inspection. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Ad Reinhardt’s Abstract Painting, Blue from 1952-1954 is an archetype of Reinhardt’s pioneering early work emphasizing the possibilities of color as an essence and not a metaphor. Part of a larger series of Abstract Paintings painted in blue as well as red and later black, this work exemplifies the artist’s mastery over color and form. The seminal and classic blue and red monochromes from the early 1950s reveal an incredibly restrained and soulful clarity that remains the capstone of Reinhardt’s entire oeuvre. Their geometric symmetry, subtle tonal variation, and frontal verticality allowed for the full expression of a single color’s range.

Attracted to Cubism, Reinhardt shattered the conventions of the movement by means of its very own forms. Absolving the rectilinear form from its capacity to create an image in perspectival depth, as demonstrated by artists such as Picasso and Braque, Reinhardt rendered it a neutral optical device devoid of image or subject. In this respect, Abstract Painting, Blue formally advances upon the precedent set by Kazimir Malevich, whose revolutionary canvases share the monochromatic rectilinear configuration of Reinhardt’s compositions. Like Malevich, whose paintings called for the reduction of painting to its very essence, Reinhardt’s composition implies both finality and the creation of a blank slate to open an entirely new potentiality.

The present work articulates the color blue in three discrete tones and forms: two symmetrical and parallel deep navy vertical rectangles within the frame of a luminous cobalt background. These chromatic variations are not yet as faint as they would become in Reinhardt’s later black paintings, while also marking a departure from Reinhardt’s earlier compositions of interspersed bricks of clearly disparate hues—Abstract Painting, Blue lies somewhere in between as a formative, transitional painting that displays Reinhardt’s maturing practice. Abstract Painting, Blue affirms Reinhardt’s place in the pantheon of the great masters of color such as Josef Albers and Mark Rothko, drawing a complex dualism and optical complexity from the interplay of slightly varied monochromatic hues.