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Catalog Data

Artist:
Morris Louis, born Baltimore, MD 1912-died Washington, DC 1962  Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
911/4 x 136 in. (231.8 x 345.5 cm.)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1959
Gallery Label:
Faces is among the paintings Louis created in the late 1950s, known as his Veils. He achieved the directional tides of sweeping color by pouring streams of acrylic paint from one end of the unprimed canvas to the other. A dark wash cloaks more brilliant hues beneath, leaving tantalizing remnants of orange, green, and blue along the top edge. The term "veil" describes not only the translucent layers of paint but the texture of the canvas support that shows through the pigment. Louis conjured spatial effects in his paintings through applied color, while at the same time undercutting the illusion of space by allowing the underlying fabric to assert itself.
Topic:
Abstract  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Vincent Melzac Collection through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Object number:
1980.5.5
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7422eaeb4-23f5-49de-aca4-080bdc8a8395
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.5.5