The Vocabularies in the Labels

“Ad Reinhardt”, American, 1913-1967

No.18, 1956

Oil on canvas

 

*  Monochromatic

: In this painting, Ad Reinhardt uses only dark blue colors, which seem the same when a viewer sees the painting from a distance.

* minimalist art

: The artist extracted a possibility of using complicate forms and applied sharp lines and square figures, which are simple and humble. Minimalist is the late 1960s movement in the arts that pursues simplicity by applying a spare or a stripped form to essentials.      

*  connotations of color

: Artists usually put colors as a medium of their thoughts and emotions, but in this painting, the artist tried to remove all complexity by simplifying its colors. Thus, the connotations of color mean hidden meanings of colors.

* symbolic inflection

: Ad Reinhardt did not include compositions that could be read as three-dimensional and removed colors that might bring a complicate meaning. Symbolic inflection is a strong inside meaning which can raise many questions.

 

 

“Joaquin Torres-Garcia”, Uruguayan, 1874-1949

Composition #548, 1932

Oil on board

 

* geometric grid containing abstract patterns

: Joaquin Torres-Garcia used a framework of spaced bars, which devices and composes patterns that are usually recognizable and meaningful.

* concrete embodiment of an idea

: The artist creates his own structure of the painting, which looks like accumulating an image of blocks, and this form and his way of expressing an art is unique for other people. Defining his own meaning and order by listening to his voice of the mind is the definition of this term. 

* irregular compartments

: The artist divides and separates the canvas not in the same order or shape.

* bordered niches

: Torres-Garcia puts his abstracted images into structured frames, which are like boxes. 

* muted colors

: The way of the artist’s using colors is almost grayed, and not saturated, so some viewers might think the colors are boring.

 

 

“Jasper Johns”, American, B, 1930

Numbers, 1967-1981

Etching and open-bite with pen and ink and brush and wash on paper

 

* “things the mind already knows.”

: This is the term the artist stated. Jasper Johns reworks his familiar subjects by approaching to them emotionally.

* Sensuous materials

: The media, which the artist uses, is more related to human’s heart than the intellect. Thus, it touches the artist and viewers’ senses.  

* Illusions of three-dimensional space

: By layering the numbers on top of each other, a viewer can get the image of three-dimensional, which is originally two-dimensional.

*  complex network of loose parallel

: The artist uses many lines and brushstrokes that crosshatch each other, so it is hard to distinguish the clear image inside the painting.