Ad Reinhardt Abstract Painting 19601965 Essay Research

Ad Reinhardt: Abstract Painting 1960-1965 Essay, Research Paper

Ad Reinhardt: Abstract Painting1960-65

Ad Reinhardt’s painting, Abstract Painting 1960-65, is at first glance’ a black square canvas. The subject matter seems to be just what it is, a black painting. There are no people. No event or action is taken except for the fact that Reinhardt has made the painting. The title only provides us with the information that we are looking at an abstract painting. The only other information that the artist gives you is the time period, in which it was conceived, 1960 to 1965. In the least amount of words possible, we could describe the painting as an abstract color field. It is possible that a narrative is expressed through the piece, although, we can not be certain what it is. There is nothing narrated through conventional means in any way.

The composition of the painting takes place with the square of the canvas. The square is approximately 5′ x 5′. A black frame surrounding the painting protrudes approximately 4″ off the canvas. There is a 1″ inlay between the canvas and frame. From this square, Reinhardt breaks the composition into six equal squares in three even rows. Texture is no where to be found in the painting. No visual indication of the artist’s brush stroke is present. No varnished glare is given off by the piece. The entire work, including the frame, is completely matte. The squares take up the entire canvas in a checkerboard type arrangement. Each square is a slightly different shade of blue-black. It almost becomes impossible to see the difference between each square. The middle squares in the top and bottom rows shift more towards blue than the rest of the squares. The division of these middle squares become more obvious than the others. When the painting is looked at from a distance, it is almost impossible to see any of the squares at all. When looking from a far, all a viewer can see is a blackish blue canvas. As you stare longer into the painting, a halo begins to form around the corners of the canvas, creating a circle inside the square. Once you look away from the canvas, the circle is gone. With this observation in mind, we could say that the painting most definitely relies on the viewer. A viewer is required to look at the piece for its full affect. We could say that the squares in the painting are self-contained. On the other hand, the squares create a visual effect that isn’t even on the canvas. They create an experience and shape that.s completely opposite of the paintings overall form and composition.

Reinhartd’s painting is abstract, expressive and analytical. We can recognize the abstractness as the idea of a black on black square. The expressive quality becomes evident when we realize that Reinhartd’s hand can not be seen. The amount of self-containment and painstaking labor needed to make such a flat painting is immense. This labor can be recognized as Reinhartd’s expressive nature through paint. As we dig deeper, the subject matter lends itself to analyticity. The plane on which we view Ad Reinhardt’s painting is much higher than first perceived. To understand the subject, the viewer most also understand Reinhardt’s philosophy of painting. Reinhardt’s painting goes further than the visual “black square”. Within this black square is the end of all painting and the start of a new.

Ad Reinhardt’s Abstract Painting 1960-65 (history and context)

Ad Reinhardt’s Abstract Painting 1960-65, was created over a span of five years. This painting, as well as many of Reinhardt’s paintings is considered to be the end of painting. The nothingness of painting. In 1959 painters such as Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, Joseph Albers and Willem de Kooning were showing exhibiting regularly and thought to be in their prime. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City was showing a Miro retrospective. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum had just opened in New York, offering a new collection a chance for artists to show work. As the 60’s came, so did a new president and a war. John F. Kennedy was to be the new president. A young, energetic, All-American male from Harvard. He gave a new image to the presidency and the country. The Vietnam War was beginning and the government was developing new weapons.

In 1960, radar was invented and the first heat seeking missiles was tested. The Museum of Modern Art had exhibited Jean Tinguely’s, Happening, a self-destroying sculpture. In 1961, the U.S. Airforce sent a chimp into space to orbit the earth. The Civil Defense officials distributed 22 million copies of the pamphlet, family fallout shelter. In 1962-63, Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup paintings are shown. Alber’s exhibits his, Homage to the square. Digital marketed the first Mini-computer. John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth. 250,000 march for Civil-Rights in Washington, D.C. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. In 1964-65, U.S. planes bomb North Vietnam. China explodes its first A-bomb. The first U.S. combat troops land in Vietnam. 1,3500 U.S. troops were killed in Vietnam and 5,300 were wounded.

In the five years during the creation of this painting, a tremendous amount of serious events took place. New work was being created. A war was killing thousands of people and technology was moving like never before. You would think that Reinhardt wou