Hrag Vartanian

I’ve long been a fan of the type of American painting called “Color Field”…yes, it’s two words, not one. As the name suggests, Color Field is characterized by art dominated by color and its luminous possibilities. While some Color Field artists are internationally known, Helen Frankenthaler, Adolph Gottlieb, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons, Mark Rothko and Frank Stella, others are less famous though equally skilled, including Jack Bush, Friedel Dzubas and Sam Gilliam.

Color Field has long languished in the annals of art history because of its association with Clement Greenberg, a brilliant critic who was the victim of jealous criticism by people who hated his preeminence as an art world tastemaker.

But now an exhibit–that I’m proud to be associated with–is the first ever full-scale examination of the sources, meaning and impact of the Color Field movement.

The traveling show entitled, “Color as Field: American Painting 1950-1975,” is accompanied by a full-color catalogue (available on Amazon) that includes 19 artist biographies I wrote.

Curated by Karen Wilkin, the exhibition opened at the Denver Art Museum (Nov. 9 – Feb. 3) last month and will be traveling to the Smithsonian in D.C. next year (Feb. 29 – May 26) and then ending its run at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, TN (June 20 – Sept. 21)…sadly there is no New York stop.

Check out this nice slideshow of some exhibition images and a good review of the Denver installation {courtesy Denver Westward}