Morris Louis

Estate of the Artist 
Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2001

New York, Paul Kasmin Gallery, Kasmin's Sixties, April - May 2001, n.p., illustrated in color

Diane Upright, Morris Louis: The Complete Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné, New York 1985, cat. no. 89, p. 141, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. Under close inspection, there are scattered media and spot accretions to the unprimed canvas. There are some small losses to the red spots of paint in the lower left corner and a loss to one of the yellow spots of paint in the lower right quadrant. All surface inconsistencies, including variations and striations to the paint, appear inherent to the artists pouring technique. Under close inspection, a faint horizontal line is visible across the upper third of the canvas and is bisected by a faint vertical line down the center. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. 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.

Dalet Sin’s deep palette provokes a fantastic sense of chromatic intrigue. The thoroughly layered composition of poured paint forces its onlookers to intensify and slow their gaze as they move throughout the engulfing landscape of color. The painting invites its viewers on a pictorial quest, scanning for clues around the perimeter of this amorphous form and searching throughout the rich gradients for hints of the unique chromatic ingredients which have melded together to produce the majestic veil. Through such an examination, this monumental picture absorbs the viewer with its sweeping arches of poured pigments as rich hues of regal reds and purples emerge throughout the body of Dalet Sin with lively flecks of beaming yellows peeking out at the edges.

With a unique pouring technique, Morris Louis achieved his intensely vivid hues by staining his canvases with Magna, a newly developed form of synthetic acrylic resin which fully penetrated the fabric and completely covered the fibers of his canvas to build glowing fields of voluminous color. While influences of Jackson Pollock are clearly present within this technique of applying paint directly onto a horizontal canvas spread across the studio floor, Louis’s work resists the rather active and gestural nature of Pollock’s compositions and instead embodies a distinctly meditative quality. Unlike many of the Abstract Expressionist and Color Field painters of his time, Morris Louis was never a part of the preeminent New York art scene and instead chose to live and work in Baltimore and Washington D.C. He was a relatively private artist and did not speak much about his practice, although he did become friends with fellow Washington, D.C. based artist Kenneth Noland in the early 1950s.

The present work was painted five years after a transformative weekend when Louis and Noland traveled together to New York City to meet the preeminent art critic and essayist of the time, Clement Greenberg. As a standout champion of the Abstract Expressionist movement, Greenberg brought Louis and Noland on visits to galleries to view works by Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock, among other artists. Their tour also included a number of studio visits which most notably included that of Helen Frankenthaler. This New York tour proved to become a transformative experience for Louis in terms of his practice and his exposure to the pouring/staining techniques of Frankenthaler opened up a realm of new possibilities for the artist.

Louis began his first series of Veil paintings in 1954 before moving into a somewhat less successful period of increasingly gestural abstract expressionist paintings over the next few years. Louis eventually destroyed most of his paintings from this 1955-57 period and today only one surviving painting bears the date 1955, but Louis’s canvas order receipts for that year indicate that he received 158 yards of canvas. Given the average size of his paintings at that time, he probably destroyed about one hundred paintings made in 1955 and about two hundred more painted in 1956 and 1957. Dalet Sin was then painted in 1958, a year that marks a pivotal moment in Louis’s career. It was at this time that Louis regained a distinct confidence in his work when he returned to produce a new series of Veils, this time more monumental and majestic than ever. This important series would provide the momentum which would carry the artist to produce a number of masterworks over the next several years of his career and lifetime.