Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

White Curve (Radius: 12')

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Ellsworth Kelly
1923-2015

White Curve (Radius: 12')

1976
31 3/4 x 47 1/2 inches (806 x 1207 mm)
Collage of cut and pasted black paper on white paper with graphite.
2010.140

Thaw Collection.

Notes
The spare minimalism of this collage is characteristic of Kelly's work, which rests on the expressive power of pure forms and simple oppositions, such as black vs. white and curve vs. straight line. Although his art is predominantly abstract, Kelly finds inspiration for it in the world around him, "investigating the abstract shape of things," as he put it. Beyond its stark, geometric form, the present drawing suggests a landscape, the curved line corresponding to a segment of earth's circumference or the gentle slope of a hill, while the black evokes a night sky.
Classification
Century Drawings