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Robert Ryman , (May 30, 1930–Feb 8, 2019)

Untitled Drawing

1976
49 5/8 in. x 49 5/8 in. (126.05 cm x 126.05 cm)

Medium and Support: Pastel and graphite on Plexiglas panel with 4 black oxide steel fasteners, plates, bolts

Credit Line: Gift of Carl Andre (PA 1953)

Accession Number: 1982.22

Commentary

Reaching artistic maturity as a painter in the early 1960s, when Minimalism was becoming a dominant mode of expression among American artists, Robert Ryman claimed subtly contrasting shades of white as his signature visual vocabulary: “white paint is my medium.” Like many of his predecessors and contemporaries, Ryman saw the absence of color and representational references to the physical world as a way of heightening the viewer’s perception of minute variations between the white tones of the linen or cotton support, the occasional layer of warm creamy yellow priming, and the white pigments used in his paintings. The untitled drawing on Plexiglas is one in a series of four he made with white pastel and graphite for the landmark 1976 MoMA exhibition <i>Drawing Now: 1955-1975</i>. In his printmaking practice, Ryman sought to further explore the possibilities of subtle variation in form and color; in printing <i>Six Aquatints</i> on ivory paper, he employed two kinds of white pigment—Titanium White and White Lead—either individually or in combination, thus achieving a range of slightly contrasting tonalities.

Kelley Tialiou
Charles H. Sawyer Curatorial Assistant | Librarian | Archivist

Exhibition List

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Large Scale Works: Drawings, Prints, Photographs, Sculpture and Painting from the Permanent Collection Addison Gallery of American Art , 1/15/1988 - 3/13/1988
American Abstraction at the Addison Addison Gallery of American Art , 4/18/1991 - 7/31/1991
American Abstraction from the Addison Gallery of American Art American Federation of Arts , 2/27/1993 - 12/4/1994
Addison Gallery of American Art: 65 Years Addison Gallery of American Art , 4/13/1996 - 7/31/1996
Defying Distinction: Works from the Addison Collection Addison Gallery of American Art , 1/12/2002 - 4/14/2002
Tracing the Sublime Addison Gallery of American Art , 12/16/2003 - 3/21/2004
Contemporary Conversations: Robert Ryman, 1976 The Menil Collection , 11/9/2007 - 2/17/2008
Then and Now Addison Gallery of American Art , 5/10/2008 - 7/13/2008
Inside, Outside, Upstairs, Downstairs: The Addison Anew Addison Gallery of American Art , 9/7/2010 - 3/27/2011
Light/Dark, White/Black Addison Gallery of American Art , 1/17/2015 - 7/31/2015
4 x 4 Addison Gallery of American Art , 9/1/2018 - 7/31/2019
Learning to Look: The Addison at 90 Addison Gallery of American Art , 5/8/2021 - 2/6/2022
Free Association: New Acquisitions in Context Addison Gallery of American Art , 9/1/2023 - 2/11/2024

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