In celebration of Ellsworth Kelly’s ninetieth birthday in May 2013, The Museum of Modern Art will present the first exhibition in 40 years of all fourteen paintings that comprise the Chatham series of works the artist produced after leaving New York City for Spencetown, in upstate New York, in 1970. The series has not been exhibited in its entirety since it was presented at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, in 1972. The Chatham Series, published in conjunction with the exhibition, is a richly illustrated exploration of this key moment in Kelly’s career. The 14 large-scale paintings he produced there all rely on a single formal concept—each is made of two joined canvases of pure monochrome color—yet the works vary in color and proportion from one to the next. An essay by Ann Temkin traces the artist’s explorations of shape, color and spatiality from the early 1950 to today.
In celebration of Ellsworth Kelly's 90th birthday, many of the world's most important museums—including the National Gallery of Art, the Philadelphia Museum, the Pompidou Center and Tate Modern—are mounting exhibitions this year. Perhaps the most interesting is MoMA's Chatham Series, which reunites 14 works made in 1971, the year after Kelly left Manhattan for rural Chatham, NY. Each painting combines two monochromatic canvases in an inverted ell; the series has not been seen together since 1972, when they were exhibited at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. Featured image, of two 1971 studies (for "Chatham IX" and "Chatham XIII") is reproduced from Ellsworth Kelly: Chatham Series. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 10.5 in. / 48 pgs / 48 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $22.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $32 ISBN: 9780870708732 PUBLISHER: The Museum of Modern Art, New York AVAILABLE: 6/30/2013 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Text by Ann Temkin.
In celebration of Ellsworth Kelly’s ninetieth birthday in May 2013, The Museum of Modern Art will present the first exhibition in 40 years of all fourteen paintings that comprise the Chatham series of works the artist produced after leaving New York City for Spencetown, in upstate New York, in 1970. The series has not been exhibited in its entirety since it was presented at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, in 1972. The Chatham Series, published in conjunction with the exhibition, is a richly illustrated exploration of this key moment in Kelly’s career. The 14 large-scale paintings he produced there all rely on a single formal concept—each is made of two joined canvases of pure monochrome color—yet the works vary in color and proportion from one to the next. An essay by Ann Temkin traces the artist’s explorations of shape, color and spatiality from the early 1950 to today.
