Ad Reinhardt: Blue Paintings

Ad Reinhardt: Blue Paintings, organized by the Ad Reinhardt Foundation, will present the largest number of the artist’s “blue” paintings ever shown together. Drawn exclusively from museum and private collections, this will be the first exhibition devoted entirely to this body of work since the artist’s 1965 solo show at the Stable Gallery, New York, over fifty years ago. This presentation will focus on works made between 1950 and 1953, in addition to related earlier canvases from the 1940s.

The perceptual demands of these compelling works are intense and reward sustained looking: the blues in Reinhardt’s paintings appear to change before one’s eyes, influenced by subtle shifts in color within each canvas and in neighboring works. Reinhardt paired tones of blue that are so similar that it may take minutes to see they are not the same, creating resonant compositions that challenge the limits of perception. In bringing these works together, this exhibition will afford a rare opportunity to experience one of the greatest twentieth-century painters thinking in color.

The Ad Reinhardt Foundation would like extend its deep gratitude to the many generous lenders who have made this unprecedented exhibition possible. Ad Reinhardt: Blue Paintings, which is free and open to the public, will introduce a new audience to these iconic works, and has already contributed immensely to the study of the artist’s oeuvre. 

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Above, from left to right: Abstract Painting, 1950-51. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 78 1/4 x 24 inches (198.8 x 61 cm). Private Collection, Courtesy Pace Gallery. Blue Painting, 1951-1953. Oil on canvas. 80 x 59 7/8 inches (203.2 x 152.1 cm). Private Collection, Europe. No. 15, 1952. Oil on canvas. 110 9/16 x 42 1/2 inches (280.8 x 108 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1958, K1958:42. All artwork © 2017 The Ad Reinhardt Foundation.