Synonyms
Definition
Color Field painting is an art movement that emerged in the mid twentieth century. Artists whose works can be categorised as Color Field chose to focus predominantly on the use of color in their works almost to the exclusion of other visual elements. Color Field paintings of the twentieth century are mostly works on canvas and some artists applied color in a formal, hard-edge manner while others chose to apply color in a more organic, freeform manner. The focus on color as demonstrated by the Color Field artists continues to influence contemporary artists; however, contemporary artists often explore color across a wider variety of media.
Overview
Of the three main currents in art that emerged in the twentieth century: Expressionism, Abstraction and Fantasy, Color Field painters were inspired by the developments in Expressionism and Abstraction [1]. The focus of Expressionism was the artist’s feelings and emotional responses via their conceptual...
References
Janson, H.W.: The History of Art, revised and expanded by A.F. Janson. Thames & Hudson, New York (1995)
Rosenberg, H.: The American action painters. Art News. 51(8), 22–23 (1952)
Greenberg, C.: Art and Culture: Critical Essays. Beacon Press, Boston (1961)
Green, P. (ed.): Monet and Japan. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2001)
Kelsey, A.: The color of transcendence. Anamesa. 3(2), 3–14 (2005)
Bird, M.: One Hundred Ideas That Changed Art. Laurence King, London (2012)
Cabanne, P.: Van Gogh. Abrams, New York (1971)
Hughes, R.: The Shock of the New: Art and Century of Change. Thames & Hudson, London (1991)
Kandinsky, W.: Ăśber das Geistige in der Kunst. R. Piper, Munich (1912). English transl. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. General Books, Memphis (2010)
Gage, J.: Color in Art. Thames & Hudson, London (2006)
MoMA: Mark Rothko. http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=78485 (2013). Retrieved 29 Mar 2013
Baal-Teshuva, J.: Mark Rothko: Pictures as Drama. Taschen, Bonn (2003)
Gershman, R.: Barnett Newman. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-newman-barnett.htm (2012). Retrieved 2 Apr 2013
Adams, T.: He had to draw the line somewhere. The Observer, Sunday 22 September 2002, Features, p. 77. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2002/sep/22/features.review77. Retrieved 2 Apr 2013
Glueck, G.: Helen Frankenthaler: abstract painter who shaped a movement dies at 83. The New York Times, 28 December 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/arts/helen-frankenthaler-abstract-painter-dies-at-83.html. Retrieved 10 Mar 2013
Benjamin, K.: Karl Benjamin – Biography. http://www.karlbenjamin.com/ (2013). Retrieved 5 Oct 2013
Richard Paul Lohse Foundation. Richard Paul Lohse: Biography. http://www.lohse.ch/bio_e.html (2012). Retrieved 10 Mar 2012
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney: Almanac – The gift on Ann Lewis AO. https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/exhibitions/almanac-the-gift-of-ann-lewis-ao/ (2009). Retrieved 19 Oct 2020
Art Gallery NSW: Robert Owen – Cadence. http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/291.2004.a-e/ (2003). Retrieved 18 Nov 2010
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney: Rebecca Baumann – Automated Colour Field, 2012; Statement of significance by Anna Davis. http://www.mca.com.au/collection/work/201120/ (2012). Retrieved 28 Mar 2013
Institute of Modern Art: Rebecca Baumann, Automated Monochrome Field 2011. https://ima.org.au/exhibitions/rebecca-baumann-at-imaksubi/ (2012). Retrieved 19 Oct 2020
Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia: Luminous Flux exhibition https://www.lwgallery.uwa.edu.au/exhibitions/past/2013/luminousflux (2013). Retrieved 19 Oct 2020
Grynsztejn, M.E.: Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson. Thames & Hudson, New York (2007)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
O’Connor, Z. (2021). Color Field Painting. In: Shamey, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_240-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_240-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Color Field Painting- Published:
- 28 February 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_240-2
-
Original
Color Field Painting- Published:
- 28 July 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_240-1