The Smithsonian Institution

"Things to Cover Walls": Ellsworth Kelly's Paris Paintings and the Tradition of Mural Decoration

Author(s): Michael Plante

Source: American Art, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 36-53
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Smithsonian American Art
Museum
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3109194
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 "Thingsto CoverWalls"
Ellsworth ParisPaintings
Kelly's
and theTraditionofMuralDecoration

Michael Plante I am notinterested forso long-to hangon thewallsof

inpaintingas it has beenaccepted
housesas pictures.To hellwithpictures-theyshouldbe thewall.

-EllsworthKellytoJohnCage,4 September
1950

Until recently,Americanmuseumshave accountsofAmerican artofthisperiod,

concealedEllsworthKelly'sinterestin he andJackYoungerman areinvariably
creatingmultiple-panel paintingsthatare categorized as "bridges" spanning the
responsive to theirinterior
settingby dividebetween abstractexpressionism and
presenting themin crampedinstallations theminimalism andcolor-field painting
thatdownplaytheirinteraction withthe ofthe1960s.Buttheparticulars ofKelly's
architectureof theroom.Yet their arthavealwaysbeendifficult tosetinan
decorativequalitiesare exactlywhat American framework, perhaps because
distinguish Kelly'sworksfromthoseof Kelly'sartwas not reactive to abstract
hisAmericanpeers,particularly the expressionism andbecauseAmerican
minimalists, withwhom he is too often hadceasedlookingtoEuropefor
critics
associated.Kelly'sworkrelatesmore aestheticideas.DevelopedinFranceand
directlyto thetraditionof muralpainting presented toNewYorkaudiences as a fait
thatdevelopedin FranceafterWorld War accompli, Kelly'sworksprovedunnerving
II and thatrevitalizedthenineteenth- orat leastpuzzling. Buttheyhadbeenwell
centurytraditionof decorativepainting. receivedin Paris,where from1948to 1954
In fact,Kelly'sworkin generalhas been Kellyhadabsorbed manyoftheformal
misreadbyAmericancritics,who fortoo andintellectual issuesthatengagedthe
long have overlookedtheimportanceof city'sgeometric abstractartists duringthe
his Parisyears.' immediate postwar years.More important,
Throughhis exhibitionsin thelate he haddeveloped hispictorial at
strategies
1950s at theBettyParsonsGalleryin a timewhenFrenchartists wereonceagain
New York,a resolutely abstractexpres- exploring issuesinvolving theexecution
sionistmilieu,EllsworthKelly(b. 1923) is andinstallation ofmuralpaintings.
routinelycitedas havingannouncedthe Parisinthelate1940swaskeyfor
Kellyat thePontdes
Ellsworth end of gesturalabstraction-theso-called Kelly,notonlyin terms ofhisartistic
Arts,1949 Tenth StreetTouch-in New York.In development but alsofor theconnections

37 AmericanArt

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 "1~~~~.~ ilYvrC"~~clc

aWa

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 he beganto makewithdealersand critics. criticsignoredKelly'snationality, allow-
In late 1949 he metMichel Seuphor- ing his work to slip easilyinto thedis-
artist,critic,and historianof theDe Stijl courseof Europeanart.
movement,whichespousedrevolutionary Of theAmericanartistswho livedin
and self-conscious art-who becamean ParisafterWorld War II, thoseworking
avid supporter.Over thenextfewyears, in a geometricabstractstyle-what
Kelly'sworkwas exhibitedat theGalerie GeorgesDuthuittermedabstraitfroid-
Arnaudin Parisand in thetwo annual werethemostsuccessfulin securing
"Tendance"showsat theGalerieMaeght. exhibitionvenuesand criticalattention.
The GalerieMaeght'sstableof artists Geometricabstractionmaintaineda
includedthemostprestigious namesin moreenduringstylistic viabilityin Paris
contemporary art-Pablo Picassoand thanit did in New Yorkand represented
an entirely different setof issues.The
deathsof Piet Mondrian,Wassily
Kandinsky,and RobertDelaunay para-
Kelly'sworkin generalhas been doxicallyhad theeffectof propelling
themovementforwardin Franceby
misreadbyAmericancritics,who
providinghistoricalmastersto be either
for toolonghave overlookedthe emulatedor rejectedby a younger
generation.What had appearedas an
importance ofhisParisyears. esotericaestheticpositionduringthe
1930s and early1940s suddenlyspread
throughoutParis.
One factorof Kelly'sworkthat
Henri Matisse.In theearly1950s it distancedit fromcontemporary American
organizeda seriesof groupexhibitions abstractionand thesortof prewargeo-
thatpresentedtheworkofyoungartists metricabstractionproducedby Mondrian
to theParispublic.JackYoungerman,one was itsengagementwithmuralpainting.
of Kelly'sfewAmericanassociates, Kelly'sdevelopmentof themultiple-panel
exhibiteda paintingin theGalerie painting,a formathe continuesto
Maeght'sshow "Les mainseblouies"in explore,was inspiredby therenewed
October 1950. The followingyearKelly's discoursesurrounding themuralformat
reputationbeganto climbwhenfour thatcirculatedthroughouttheParisart
ofhis paintingswereplaced in the circlesof theday.
"Tendance"exhibition.That twoyoung,
relativelyinexperienced Americanartists
could have receivedthiskind of attention Murals and Politics
in Parisindicatestheopennessof the
community, especiallyto thosepracticing The postwarrevivalof themuralwas born
abstraction,and theextentto which of two separateimpulses-the populist
dealersand criticswerecastingabout for concernsof theFrenchCommunistParty
new talent.The successthatKelly,in fora renewedpublic art,and thepractical
particular,achieveddependedon his need to repairand reconstruct buildings,
workbeingreadwithinthecontextof mostly outside of Paris,thathad been
Frenchcontemporary art.Given the destroyedor damagedduringthewar. In
growingawarenessin Parisof the 1950 JeanCassou, directorof theMusde
achievements of theNew Yorkschool Nationald'ArtModerne,describedthe
duringthisperiod,it is remarkable that interestin publicartand theforced

38 Spring1995

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 of "exiled"modernistsfrom
repatriation muralprojectswas amongthem.Accord-
theretreatof individualism: ing to Leger,modernartmustaspire
toward"an abstractartwhichmustadapt
Aftera periodofexasperatingindividual- itselfto thewall.A monumentalart,ready
ism,thereshouldbe a periodofworking forwalls."3
towardsomecollective actionno longer AlthoughtheSovietUnion provided
compartmentalized, ratherharmonious
but much ofthe ideologicalpush behindthe
The wall,thefirstelement
and reconciled. practiceof muralpaintingin Franceat
ofthe
house
andtherefore
a sign
ofthe thebeginningof the 1930s, theUnited
humancommunity, can helpwithsucha
development.forcesthepainter,likethe
It
to movebeyondwhatis closed
architect,
and schematic and tomovetowardwhatis Kelly'sdevelopment ofthe
theessentialin theirart.... In thisway,the multiple-panelpainting ... was
painteris reinstatedintothelifeofsociety.2
inspiredbythereneweddiscourse
The postwarconceptionof themural surrounding themuralformat
was rootedin theideas expressedat the thatcirculatedthroughout the
1937 ExpositionInternationale in Paris,
wherethemuralhad been omnipresent Parisart circlesoftheday.
and thequestionofhow themodernist
mightaddressthemuralmostpressing.
Throughouttheearly1950s ideas about
publicartcontinuedto surfacethrough- Statesprovideda model fortheFrench
out theworldof artand design.It was laterin thedecade,largelythroughthe
duringthisperiod,forexample,thatJean disseminationof aestheticideas emerging
Lurqatbeganan ambitiousprogram fromtheWorksProgressAdministration's
to producetapestries at theAtelier FederalArtProject.Ligerwas perhapsthe
d'Aubusson. figuremostresponsiblefortranslating
The Marxistconcernwiththemural Americanmuralideasto theFrenchpublic.
can be tracedback to 1931 and the He made severalvisitsto theUnited
foundationof RAPKh, theRussian Statesbeginningin 1931, and America's
Associationof Proletarian which
Artists, attractionforhim seemedto reston the
calledupon artiststo renounceboth of
promise futuremuralcommissions.
modernismin generaland easel painting On Lager'sfirstvisitto theUnited
in particularas toolsof capitalism. States,he becameacquaintedwiththe
Membersof theFrenchavant-garde had muralsofJoseClementeOrozco and
occasionto meetSovietartistsand Thomas Hart Bentonat theNew School
throughoutthe 1930s,
intellectuals forSocial Researchin New York.He was
though few actuallyjoined theCommu- involvedin twoseparateprojectswiththe
nistParty.Interestin Sovietsocial realism New YorkCitymuraldivisionof the
continuedafterthewar,thoughprogres- FederalArtProjectin 1936, including
siveCommunistdefendersof themural one-a collaborationwithyounger
tradition,such as FernandLager,saw Americanartistssuch as ByronBrowne
abstractionas a vitalcomponentof a and Willem de Kooningthatwas never
renewedmuralpractice.In 1951, when realized-to decoratethepierof the
Lagerformulated his requirements fora FrenchLine shippingcompanyat the
trulymodern the
painting, necessityof harbor.4The FederalArtProjectprovided

39 AmericanArt

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 Lagerwithsignificantcontactswith or nationalisticagendas.In 1935 the
young,sociallyengagedartists. Associationl'ArtMural published
Lagerspentthewaryearsin theUnited itsfirstmanifestoarguingfora
States,and he returnedto Franceas depoliticizedapproachto themural,
committedto muralpaintingas ever. and it organizedsalonsin 1935, 1936,
PostwarEuropewas seeingitsfirst and 1938. Its firstpostwarsalon took
examplesofAmericanand Mexican place in thesummerof 1949 at the
muralpaintingand thekindof socially Palais des Papes in Avignon.The salon's
committedart,by Ben Shahn and others, cataloguelistssome peculiarchoices
categorizedas muralpainting.Along
withclassic1930s muralpaintingsby
AndreLhote,Le Corbusier,Leger,and
"The roleofpaintingI think, Delaunayweresuch curiousselections
as Mondrian'sComposition (1914,
theroleofall decorativepaint- StedeljkMuseum,Amsterdam).The
ing,is to to
enlargesurfaces, organizersof thesalon apologizedforthe
workso thatone no longer inclusionof artthatwas not necessarily
feels conceivedin themuralformatbut decried
thedimensions of wall."
the thepaucityof examplesof publicartfrom
whichto choose. In an articlepublished
- Henri Matisse in Artd'aujourd'hui,theassociation
evadedtheissueofwhetherabstractionor
figuration was appropriateformural
painting:"You will askwhatthesubject
thatwas thelegacyof theWPA. In 1952, of muralarthas become.I replythatwe
theMusde Nationald'ArtModernein do not at all mean to fightforone
Parispresentedan exhibitionof Mexican aestheticpositionat theexpenseof others.
artthatincludedworksby thatcountry's Each artistwilldefendhis pointofview,
muralists.The followingyear,themu- whichhistorywill acceptor refuse."
seum mountedan exhibitionof contem- Paradoxically, in thesame publication
poraryAmericanpaintingentitled earlierthatsummer,Michel Seuphorhad
"12 peintreset sculpteursamericains conjuredone of themostilluminating
contemporains," includingtheworkof visionsof muralsto date.Alongwithhis
Shahn. Shahn'sworkwas also exhibitedat descriptionand photographsof the
theVenice Biennalein 1954, wherehe unveilingof theLe Corbusiermural
sharedtheAmericanpavilionwith in theSwissPavilionof theCite
Willemde Kooning.In short,duringthe Universitaire, he includeda 1930s
yearsfollowingWorldWar II, Europeans photograph Mondrian'sstudioin Paris,
of
wereclearlyawareofAmericanand showinga gridof coloredsquarestacked
American-based muralpainting,which to thewall.5With thisphotograph,
figuredprominently in theEuropean Seuphorprovidedtheleastpoliticized
revivalof muraldecorations. definitionof themuralenterprise,
dismissingissuesof politics,social realism,
and abstractionin favorof thesimple
Mondrian,Matisse,and Murals decorationof a wall.
This simplifieddefinitionof themural
In France,supportformuralpainting aestheticwas mostforcefully arguedin
was not necessarily
tiedto anypartisan theearly1950s by HenriMatisse,whose

40 Spring1995

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 #:P T.,
371'
??Mst R-1,
0,

W,;
j??:g
Henri Matisse, The Thousand seriesof decorativecutoutsmade an career,includingprojectsforSergei
and One Nights,1950. Gouache Shchukinin the SovietUnion and Albert
impacton youngAmericanartistslike
paper,139.1x 374
on cut-and-pasted
EllsworthKelly.Beginningin 1950 Barnesin Merion,Pennsylvania. These
cm(54? x 1471/4in.).Carnegie
MuseumofArt,Pittsburgh, Acquired untilhis deathin 1954, Matisseexplored in
pale comparison,however,withhis
throughthegenerosity
oftheSarah
gouachesddcoupees in compositionsthat projectto decoratethe Chapel ofthe
MellonScaifefamily
grewincreasingly largeand moreself- Rosaryof theDominicansat Vence, in
consciousin theirplacementon thewall. thesouthof France.For thisproject,
Matissecommentedin 1951, "The role whichoccupiedhim from1948 to 1952,
of paintingI think,theroleof all decora- Matissedesignednot onlythestained-
tivepainting,is to enlargesurfaces,to glasswindowsand ceramictilemurals
workso thatone no longerfeelsthe but thechasublesas well. Clearly,by the
dimensionsof thewall."6Workingfroma end ofhis life,Matissehad committed
chairwiththehelp of assistants, he was himselfto thecreationof muralsand
able to organizelargenumbersof small architecturalenvironments. He wroteto
cut-paperunitsintomural-sizecomposi- Louis Aragonin 1943, "Perhapsafterall I
tions,such as The Thousandand One have an unconsciousbeliefin a futurelife
Nights(fig.1), by directingtheirplace- ... some paradisewhereI shallpaint
menton thewallsof his bedroom. frescoes."8
Createdin thisway-composed on the Between1944 and 1950 Matisse
wallsofhis bedroomand studioin exhibitedthelargecutoutsin Paris.He
Nice-Matisse executeda decorative began to sendmajordecorativecutout
projecton thewall thatrespondedto panelsto theannual Salon de mai and
architecturalneedsand was bounded by showedthreemajorcutouts,as wellas
architecturallimitations.If anything,the two of thechapelmaquettes,at the
removalof thecutoutsfromhiswallsand Maison de la PensdeFranqaisein 1950.
theirplacementonto flatpanelscontra- Amongthethreepanelswas his Thousand
dictedthespiritwithwhichtheworks and One Nights.More than 12 1/2feet
wereoriginallycreated.7 long,it was thefirstlarge-scalepiece
Matissehad executedmuralcommis- Matisseexecutedthatwas not to be part
sionsat varioustimesthroughouthis of theVence Chapel. The Thousandand

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2 a WhiteWall,1952.
Paintingfor One Nightswas also shownin an exhibi- paintingshe had begunthepreviousyear
Oil on canvas,fivejoinedpanels, tionentitled"Sur quatremurs"at the withworkslike Cite'.10At thispoint,Kelly
59.7x 181 cm(23 '/2x71 '/4in.).
Collectionoftheartist
GalerieMaeghtin 1951, theyearof realizedthatthemultiple-panel works
Kelly'sfirst"Tendance"exhibitionat the could becomesufficiently objectliketo
same gallery. elude traditionalassociationswitheasel
paintingyetstillbearintenserunsof
chromaticcolor.An examinationof the
Kelly,Collage, and Construction collageStudyfor "Paintingfor a White
Wall" (fig.3) revealsthatthecomposition
The productionand exhibitionof originallyhad onlyfourpanels,essentially
Matisse'slarge-scalecutoutcompositions thefourleftpanelsof thefinalpainting.
coincidedwithKelly'smostproductive Althoughthecolorhas none of the
periodin France.Kellymovedto the crispnessfoundin thecompletedwork,its
villageof Sanaryin November1951, conceptionwas fairlywell-developed
and themostdramaticchangein his at thispoint.Kellyrecallsthatthe
workwas a new attitudetowardcolor, unusualpairingof two close hues-
oftenattributed by criticsto thefamous pinkand orange-came froma chance
lightand color thesouthof France.9
of arrangement of collagepaperson the
Certainly,thebrightlightof theRiviera, floorofhis studio.Kellyregularly used
as well as thecolorfulboatsand brightly construction paper to make his collages
paintedhouses,musthaveawakened and thenmatchedthecolorsforthefinal
Kelly'scolorsense.But Kellywas prob- multiple-panel paintings.Observingthat
ablyequallyinfluencedby theincreasing thecolorsfoundin Kelly'spaintingsare
bodyof Matissecutoutsthatwereon thesame as thoseof theconstruction
viewin Paris.That thecutoutsmightalso papersused by Frenchschoolchildren,
havebeen inspiredby thecolorsof the Yve-AlainBois has suggestedthatthey
southof France,wheretheywerecreated, are "ready-made"colors-that is, derived
would haveonlyenhancedtheirappeal fromthecolorsof thecommercially
forKelly. producedpaperKellyused in his
Kellyfirsttackleda multiple-panel collages."
paintingduringthewinterof 1952 in When Kellyconstructed Paintingfora
Sanary.Paintingfora WhiteWall (fig.2) WhiteWallfromthecollagestudy,he
continuedtheexperiments withmodular added a blue panel to thecomposition's

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3 Study a White
for"Paintingfor
Wall," 1952. Collage,24.1 x 55.9
cm(23 1/2x 71 1/2
in.). Collectionof
theartist

rightside,callingit "a revelationthatfive betweenthe balconieson thebuilding's

differentlycoloredpanelscould existas a exterior werepaintedbrightpastelcolors,
painting."By addingtheblue panel,Kelly a use of colorin modernarchitecture that
enclosedthewhitepanel and forcedit to Kellyhad not seen before.Kelly'sfascina-
functionin an emphaticway.While the tionwiththisbuilding,as wellas the
collage'swhitepanel is spatiallyambigu- architect'sSwissPavilionat theCite
ous in relationto thewall,thepainting's Universitaire in Paris,promptedhim to
whitepanel occupiesa strategic position, bringsome of his collagesto Marcel
oscillatingbetween its statusas a Breuer,who was designingtheUNESCO
panel (or an object) and itsvisualand buildingin Paris,in hopes of securinga
psychologicalequivalencewiththewall. muralcommission.Breuer,however,was
TrevorFairbrother has identifiedan not interested.13
important shiftin the traditional But Kellywas undauntedin his
relationship between form and ground preoccupationwiththemural.In a letter
in Kelly'sworkfromthisperiod:the to Hilla Rebay,directorof theMuseum of
painting-object (so-calledto distinguish Non-ObjectivePaintingin New York
thesemultiple-panel constructions from (laterthe Solomon R. Guggenheim
conventionaleasel paintings)becamethe Museum), Kellyoutlinedhis ideas about
form,whilethewall itselfassumedthe muralpainting:
characteristicsof theground.12Scale and
installationrequirements notwithstanding I havedecidedagainstthepolicyofexhibit-
(theworkmeasures23 /2x 71 /4 inches), ing.. . . And I don'tbelievein selling
Kelly'sPaintingfora WhiteWallis pictures.That'sall a hangover fromthe
essentiallya muralstatement.Yet as a Renaissance.Thefutureartistmustwork
mural,it is attachedto thewall,not part directly withsociety.I believethatthedays
of it. ofthe"easel"painting arefading,and that
During thissame period,Kellypursued thefutureartwillbesomething morethan
an interestin architecture thatdated just "personality paintings"forwallsof
fromhis earliesttimein France,when apartments and museums.Thefutureart
he had exploredeleventh-century Ro- mustgo tothewall itselfAnd thisis whatI
manesquestructures. In 1952 he traveled havebeentrying todo in mywork.'4
to Marseillesto see Le Corbusier's
apartmentbuilding,Unite d'Habitation, Dated 29 November,probably1952,
stillunderconstruction. The walls thelettermayhave been writtenafter

43 American
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4 Red YellowBlue White(formerly Kelly'ssecondexhibitionat theannual corresponding to thewhitepanelsthat
Bon Marche), 1952. Twenty-five "Tendance"at theGalerieMaeght,for ascendand thendescendon thevertical
dyed-cottonpanels in fiveparts,each units.
he did not showagainin Parisuntil1958.
30.5 x 30.5 cm (12 x 12 in.); 152.4 x
375.9 cm (60 x 148 in.) overall, By thattimehe had establishedhis UnliketheAmericanswho would
including55.9 cm (22 in.) spaces reputationin New York. reviewtheseworkslaterin thedecade,
betweensections.Collection of the Frenchand Germancriticsunderstood
artist Kelly'smostaggressive rejectionof
theeaselpaintingtraditionwas expressed Kellyin thecontextof his engagement
5 fora LargeWall,1951.
Colors in Red YellowBlue White(fig.4). The withthewall. Seuphorwas amongthose
Oil on canvas,mountedon sixty-four
paintingcomprisesfiveseparatevertical who observedthemuralqualitiesof
wooden panels,239.3 x 239.9 cm
(94 1/4x 94 /4 in.). The Museum of panelshungtwenty-two inchesapart Kelly'spaintings,includingColorsfora
Modern Art,New York,Giftof the on
(as specified theback of thecanvas) LargeWall (fig.5), shownin the 1952
artist to createan overallimage.Each of "Tendance"exhibition.In thiswork,
thepanelsconsistsof two blue squares Kellygrappledwithmanyof theplastic
and one squareeach of red,yellow,and problemsof thegridinheritedfrom
white.The colorsare stackedin three Mondrianand theconstructivist tradition
variations,but thetwooutsideunitsand but solvedmanyof theformalproblems
two insideunitsare identical,producinga bysimplyenlargingthegridto mural
bilateralsymmetry. Nowherein Red proportionsand grafting it onto the
YellowBlue White are thecolorsin the "wall"of thetitle.Froma collagestudy
sequenceof thetitle,norare thepanels usingrandomlyplaced coloredpapers,
painted;instead,Kellystretched commer- Kellyfaithfullytranscribed thecolorsonto
cial dyedfabricoverstretcher bars.In this thework'ssixty-four modules,each one
importantsense,thepaintingwas footsquare,thusallowingthecolorto
"fabricated" ratherthanpainted;in becomemoreeffective and substantial
itsuse of pre-dyedmaterialsit also relates and thepanelsto developtheirown
to Matisse'scutouts.In no otherpainting visualproperties.The hueswere
does Kellymakesuch a strategic use of predominantly chosen fromthepool of
thewall as ground,allowingthevertical secondarycolors,perhapsas a small
panelsto be readas form.The painting rebellionagainstMondrian'suse of
dictatesa healthystretchofwhitewall, primarycolors.The randomnatureof

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 Kelly'scolorplacementin Colorsfora Seuphor'sessayaccompanyingthe
LargeWallsetsthepaintingin contrast 1952 "Tendance"exhibitionrevealshis
to Mondrian'sneoplasticworkfrom endlesssurpriseat thegrowthof the
the 1930s; in fact,thepicturemaybe abstractionmovementafterWorld War II
thoughtof as "anti-Mondrian"in and theinnovationdisplayedbyyounger
character.
15 painters.He brieflyreviewedthehistory

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 of abstractartas it developedfrom empiricaland documentary evidenceto
Kandinskyand Mondrian,thendiscussed argue that Kellywas inspiredby Matisse's
thefiveartistsin theexhibition,saving beliefin thepotentialof coloras a
Kellyforlast: decorativeand spatialelement.17

Finally,we cometo theAmericanKelly.

He is a rhythmist whosestyle
ofsurfaces
is oneofpeaceful assuranceand real "I wouldliketoseehimde-
distinction. His virtuosity
is brilliant
coratehugeairportsbathed
its
through verysobriety ofmeans.
Hereagain ... oneseesthatthepatient in light.There,hissimplefor-
lessonofMondrianhas borneitsfruits. mats,so harmonious,wouldbe
Fruitswhich,ofcourse, havetheir
likeclear,sweetmusichelping
ownparticular flavor.Kelly'sartis light
and transparent likethemorning air thespirittofly."
on a hilltop.I wouldliketoseehimdecorate
hugeairportsbathedin light.There,his
so harmonious, wouldbe -Michael Seuphor
simpleformats,
likeclear,sweetmusichelpingthespirit
toflytowardthehighplateausofan
imagined pefectionwhereALL WOULD
BE REST.' During thisperiod,Matissefunctioned
as a modelproblem-solver who had found
KellyprobablysmartedfromSeuphor's a wayaroundmanyof theimpassesthat
reference to Mondrian,but thiswas also had stymiedEuropeanabstractionafter
themostresponsivecriticismKellyhad thewar.Justas Matissecomposedthe
receivedto date.Wantingto see Kelly's largedecorativecutoutsfromindividual
artdecorating"hugeairports,"the "modules"thatcould functionseparately
ultimatesymbolof themodernage in or interactwithinthelargercompositions,
Europe and America,Seuphorclearlyread Kellydiscoveredhe could expandor
Kelly'scues and understoodColorsfora contractthescale ofhis multiple-panel
LargeWall's muralaspiration,bothin worksonce themodulewas set.More-
itstitle(whichwas givenin English)and over,in thecutoutsMatissewas able to
itsscale. distinguish betweentheconceptsof
"color"and "paint"(in French,both
couleur),separatingcolorfromthepaint
Models and Modules and brushwork thathe believedcontrolled
the spatialqualitiesof a painting.For this
Ultimately,it is theabsenceof Matisse reason,he used gouacheto colorhis
fromSeuphor'sessaythatis mostacutely papersbecaue of itsabilityto producean
feltwhenlookingat Kelly'sworkin the evensaturation.18 This separationof color
"Tendance"exhibition.Matisse'slate fromthemediumof paintis likewisea
cutoutsmade possiblethemarriageof subtextin Kelly'spaintingsfromthe
geometry to dazzling,evocativecolor period,particularly in workslikeRed
foundin Kelly'smultiple-panel works, YellowBlue White,in whichhe used pre-
hothousehybridsof colorand form. dyedfabrics.
Though Kellyhas deniedanysignificant That KellyadoptedMatisse'splastic
influencefromMatisse,thereis sufficient strategiesis supportedby thenumberof

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 collageshe executedduringthatwinterin his structural
and coloristicideas directly
Sanary-and has continuedto the to thepaintingthefollowingyear.
present.The Sanarycollagesarenot Indeed, thedegreeofformalresolution
studiesbut fullyformedcolorcomposi- foundin all of Kelly'scollagesand the
tionsthatareworksof artin theirown remarkableequivalenciesbetweenthese
right,regardlessofwhetherKellychose to paperworksand his multiple-panel
eventually themintopaintings.
translate paintingsarguefortheiruse as prototypes,
To thedegreethatMatisse'scutouts
shouldnot be regardedas "collages"in the
traditionalsense(and JackCowarthas
arguedpreciselythis),Kelly'scollages, "I believethatthedaysofthe
withtheirformalsophistication and
finishedlook,likewisebearlittlerelation 'easel'paintingarefading,and
to our historicalunderstandingof this thatthefutureart will be some-
medium.19
In hercatalogueof Kelly'sworkson thingmorethanjust personality
paper,Diane Uprighthas distanced paintings'forwallsofapartments
Kelly'scollagesfromhis multiple-panel and museums.Thefutureart
paintings,claimingthereis only"resem-
blance,and nothingon par withscale, mustgo to thewall itself."
color,norsurface."20But preciselythe
oppositeargumentcan be made: the -Ellsworth Kelly
collagesthatKellyproducedbetween
1952 and 1954 areabsolutelycontiguous
withhis paintingsand as formally similar
to themas worksexecutedin different
media can possiblybe. Compare Tiger even maquettesin thearchitectural sense.
(fig.6) withthecollagedStudyfor"Tiger" Kellyproducedthecollagesas finished
(fig.7). The paintingconsistsoffive conceptsthatcould be reproduced
joined panelsthatreproducethe "ready- exactly-whetherenlargedto function
made" freshness of thecollage'sjuxtaposi- as easel-sizepicturesor to meet
tionsofprefabricated magenta,orange, the demandsof largerarchitectural
yellow, blue, and white construction commissions.Accordingto Kelly,the
papers. One sees in Tiger,as well,the collagescould be enlargedto anysize,for
subtlemanipulationof thegridthat he had alreadyworkedthroughall
developedas Kellyexploredthemultiple- potentialdesignand compositional
panel construction. In both compositions, problemsattendantwithtranslating them
Kelly veered away from symmetry, to a largerscale. Once his designwas fixed
allowingthestrength of thecolorsto and theunitof module calibrated,he
determinehow theworkwould feel. could expandor contracthis composition
Though theartistslightly adjustedthe at will. Colorsfora LargeWall,for
hues and tonesin thepaintedversionof example,withitssixty-four panelseach
Tiger,theoverallcomposition,therelative one footsquare,could be doubled in scale
sizesof themodules,and theproportion or halvedand retainitssame pictorial
of each module in relationto thepainting cohesiveness.Kellyclaimshe would have
as a whole remainsthesame. Clearly, made his paintingslargerin the 1950s if
Kellyresolvedall formalproblemsat the he had had themeansand resourcesto do
collagestage,translating thesubstanceof so. By submitting his collagesto both

47 AmericanArt

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6 Tiger,1953. Oil on canvas(five MarcelBreuerandLe Corbusier inhopes The collagesallowedKellytofixa
joinedpanels),205.1 x 217.2 cm (80 ofwinning muralcommissions, he sought composition This
forlaterfabrication.
x 85 /2in.).NationalGalleryofArt,
3/4
thisvision.In a letter
to fulfill toJohn sometimesoccurred several
years the
after
Washington, D.C., Gift(partialand
promised) oftheartist in
Cage 1950,Kellywrote,"Mycollages was
collage made, whenKellycould
areonlyideasforthings muchlarger- devotehimself
completely tothe
thingsto coverwalls."21 Butbecausethecollages'
paintings.

48 Spring
1995

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7 1952. Collage,
for"Tiger,"
Study
81.9 x 87 cm (32 /4x34 /4in.).
Collectionoftheartist

conceptions wereso highlyresolved, The production of"prototypes" forthe

suchbroadtimelapsesposedno problem laterexecution ofmuralsandother
as to thepaintings'
formalresolution. noneaselworksofarthadstrong support
SeveralofthecollagesthatKellymade in theParisartworldoftheearly1950s.
in Pariswerenottranslatedintopaintings The ideawaspromoted notonlybymural
untilhe returnedtoNewYork.The paintersbut alsobyavant-garde artists
collageStudyfor"White Plaque,Bridge suchas VictorVasarely. Fromthetimeof
ArchandReflection"wasmadein Parisin hisfirst
Parisexhibition atthenewly
1951;thefinalconstruction ofoilon openedGalerieDeniseRendin 1944,
woodwasfinished inNewYorkduring Vasarelywasreproached fornotproduc-
thewinter of1955. Gaza,a four-panel ing"real"paintings.He repliedthathis
construction,wasexecuted inNewYork productions-units couldbe infi-
that
in 1956froma studydonein Parisin nitelyrepeated-were conceived ofas the
1952.Andfinally, in 1987,Kellycreated of
"opposite" easelpaintings. Though
BlueYellow Red,a painting of
consisting Vasarely's
objectiveswerenotbasedin
threejoinedpanels,froma Pariscollage ideaskeyedtoeither muralpainting or
of 1954. decorative
painting, hisdesire to challenge

49 American
Art

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 thedominanceofeaselpaintingin formatsbystudioassistants.Kellydid not
artranparallelto these rebelfromthe"handicraft" qualityof his
contemporary
movements.22 objects,thoughcertainly therehave been
Vasarelyhad been influencedby occasionswhenhe employedassistants
Bauhaus ideas at an earlyage, muchas withcertainpieces.Kelly'ssignature
Kellywould be yearslater.Vasarely's paintingstylehas been dependentupon
pointof departurewas theidea thatthe an even,uninflected facturethatimplies
easelpainting,regardless ofhow bold in giventhetremendous
(paradoxically,
could not remain withinthe attentionto surfaceconstruction)the
conception,
confinesof galleriesand collectors' absenceof theartist'shand. His collage
prototypeswerethusencodedso thatthe
finalworkcould be fabricated,as needed,
byassistants,muchas themuralistsof the
"The monochrome buildings 1930s conceivedworksthatwereactually
executedby assistants.
demandcolor,and thespaces
demandan imageon a large
A BridgefromParis
scale-powerfulstatements
whichare verymuchalive."
Kellyreturnedto New Yorkin July1954.
His firstexhibitionat theBettyParsons
-Ellsworth Kelly Galleryconsistedof his Parispaintings,
whichwereprobablypricedtoo steeply
foran artistrelativelyunknownin
America.Few of theworkssold. But in
1956 Kellyfinallyreceivedan architec-
apartments-anopinionnot unlikethe turalcommissionfortheTransportation
disdainKellyexpressedforthegallery Buildingin Philadelphia'sPenn Center.
systemin his letterto Hilla Rebay. For thishe designeda lobbysculpture
Vasarely'ssolutionto theproblemof the (fig.8), consistingof 104 aluminum
easelpicturewas to createa seriesof panelsdistributed overa ten-by-seventy-
"start-upprototypes" thatcould be footfrieze,thatepitomizedhis experi-
enlarged and multiplied.Vasarelycon- mentsin separatingformfromground.24
ceivedofhis prototypesystemas provid- This was theonlymajorarchitectural
ing a new beginning,a new potentialfor commissionKellywould receivefor
art.Althoughhe had Marxistconcerns severalyears,thoughhe continuedto
thatKellydid not share,bothwere pursuemuralcommissions, which,he
motivatedby thesame desireto explore believed, would provide institutional
the
alternatives to theeaselpicture.Vasarely and financialsupporthe needed.
wrotein the "YellowManifesto"of 1955, In an undated"statement," probably
"If thenotionofplasticworkhas thusfar mimeographedand placed in thegalleries
been seen as a processofhandicraft, and if duringhis 1957 exhibitionat theBetty
it has been lockedwithinthe 'single ParsonsGallery,Kellyexpoundedon the
entity'myth,thisis no longerso. It has relationshipbetweenpaintingand
come to implyre-creation, multiplication, architecture:
and expansion."23 Vasarely'sprocess
involvedusinggraphpaperto produce For a longtimepaintingand architecture
carefulprototypes of his compositions, haveremainedseparated.Todaythereis
whichwerethentranslatedintolarger verylittlecollaboration
oftheplasticarts

1995
50 Spring

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8 Lobby sculpture,1956-57.
Anodized'/8in.aluminum, 104
panels,365.8 x 1950.7x 30.5 cm
(144 x 768 x 12 in.) overall.
Transportation Building, Penn
Center,Philadelphia

witharchitectureproducinganything ofreal monochrome demandcolor,and

buildings
value.Perhaps thereasonfor thisis that thespacesdemandan imageon a large
mostcontemporary paintingis toopersonal scale-powerfulstatements
whichare very
forlargewallspacesand theeaselpainting much
alive.25
artistis moreinvolvedin hispaintingas an
endin itselfratherthanrelatingit to These ideas,developedin Parisand
building.However,thereis an awakening expressedfiveyearsearlierin his letterto
amongsomeartiststo thedemandsmade Rebay,musthave fallenflaton theNew
uponthembythenewarchitecture. ... The Yorkartcommunityin thelate 1950s.

51 AmericanArt

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 With theend of theWPA, themural Parisexpatriates
whoreturned to
aestheticin theUnitedStateshad re- NewYorkconstituted that"overlap"
ceded. New Yorkwould not experience generation-Al Held,JulesOlitski,
thedecorativemuralsofMatisse'slast Kenneth Noland,Youngerman himself,
yearsuntil1961, whenMonroe Wheeler andKelly.Thissecondgeneration of
organized"The LastWorksof Henri theNewYorkschooldeveloped the
Matisse:LargeCut Gouaches" forthe directionabstract
expressionism would
Museum ofModernArt. takeintoformalistabstraction. Butfor
But then,thedirectionofpainting Kelly,theformalconcerns developed in
in New Yorkwas changing.Jack Pariswouldcontinue tooccupyhisart
Youngerman,who also exhibitedat the production throughout hiscareer.
BettyParsonsGallery,said: "It is just that DescribedbyAmerican critics
as a bridge
you thinkof one groupof paintersbeinga between abstract
expressionism and
partof a commonmoment,likesaythe minimalism andcolor-fieldpainting,
whole Pollock-RothkothingwithBetty. Kellyis moreaccurately understood as a
And thenyou thinkof otherpaintersas principalimporterofthepostwar art
beingof anothermoment.But actually enterpriseofParisto thehighartcircles of
thereis alwaysan overlapping."26The NewYork.

52 Spring1995

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Notes
Ellsworth Kelly:TheYearsinFrance, 7 Photographs takenofMatisse'sstudio work.Otherartists
areaccordedonly
1948-1954 (Washington, D.C.: andbedroom withthecutoutsin situare onework.
NationalGallery ofArt,1992),the revealing.
Compositions oftenwrapped
catalogue ofan exhibition at theGalerie aroundthecorners oftheroomto fill 18 Neff,pp. 28-29.
Nationaldu Jeude Paumein Parisand twowalls,rather thanoneflatsurface.
theNationalGallery ofArtinWashing- The femalefigure inLa Niegresse 19 SeeJackCowart,Introduction, inHenri
ton,D.C., hasdemonstrated the (1952-53,NationalGallery ofArt, Mattise,ed. Cowart,pp. 15-16.
continued influence ofParison the Washington, D.C.) wasoriginally thetermcollage
Traditionally, has
postwar American avant-garde.The letter so thatherstrange,
installed triangular designatedworksthatusepreexisting
in theepigraph is quotedon pp. 187-88. feetwererestingon thesurfaceofthe objects,foundobjects,orassemblage to
TrevorFairbrother, Ellsworth Kelly: studiofloorwhiletherestofherfigure obfuscateconventionalnarrativeor,in
SevenPaintings (1952-55/1987)(Boston: wastackedto thewall.In thissense, thedadasense,coherent interpretation.
MuseumofFineArts,Boston,1987), Matisseexplored thefulldecorative NeitherMatissenorKellywereoperating
unpaginated, hasarguedpersuasively for potentialofarchitectural
space. withinthistradition.
a reading ofKelly'sworkthatincorpo-
ratesaspectsofmuralpainting, though 8 HenriMatisseto LouisAragon(1943), 20 Diane Upright,
Ellsworth
Kelly:Workson
he doesnotlocatetheformative aspects quotedinJackFlam,MatisseonArt Paper(NewYork:HarryN. Abrams in
ofKelly'sstylein theParismilieuofthe (NewYork:E. P. Dutton,1978),p. 95. withtheFortWorthArt
association
postwar years. Museum,1987),p. 18.
It is onlyfairtostatethatEllsworth 9 See E. C. Goossen,Ellsworth
Kelly(New
Kellyobjectsto thetermdecorative and York:MuseumofModernArt,1973), 21 Kelly,interviewbyauthor,12 February
specifies thathispaintings andwall p. 40. 1990;andKellytoJohnCage (1950),
sculptures are"objects"hungon thewall. quotedinEllsworthKelly:TheYearsin
According to Kelly,"thecontent ofthe 10 Unlessotherwisenoted,allworksby France,p. 187.
workis formandcolor;withthe EllsworthKellyremainin theartist's
separation offormandground, theresult collection. 22 Vasarely'sideasweresharedbymanyof
is thewallbecomestheground."Kellyto theartists
whoexhibited withtheGalerie
author, 9 February 1995. 11 See Fairbrother;
andYve-AlainBois, DeniseRendin the1950sandmayhave
"EllsworthKellyin France:Anti- accounted forKelly'sdesiretojointhe
2 JeanCassou,Situationdel'artmoderne Composition in ItsManyGuises,"in After
gallery. consideringhisapplication,
(Paris:Editionsde Minuit,1950),pp. Ellsworth
Kelly:TheYearsinFrance, however, theotherartistmembers voted
140-41. p. 10. notto accepthimintothegallery. Kelly,
interviewbyauthor,12 February 1990.
3 FernandLager,quotedinGermain Viatte, 12 EllsworthKelly,interview
withTrevor
oftheOlderGeneration,"
"Masters in 18August1987;and
Fairbrother, 23 VictorVasarely,
"YellowManifesto"
France1945-54,NewImages
Aftermath: EllsworthKelly,"Statement,"
1983, inArtofOurCentury,
(1955),reprinted
ofMan(London:BarbicanCentrefor artist's
archives. ed.Jean-Louis
Ferrier(Englewood Cliffs,
ArtsandConferences,1982),p. 36. Hall Press,1989),p. 521.
N.J.:Prentice
13 Ellsworth
Kelly,interview
byauthor,12
4 See SimonWillmoth, "Lagerand 1990.
February 24 "Ellsworth Kelly:Paintings
May21-June
America," inFernand Liger:TheLater 8, 1956,"checklist,BettyParsons
Years,ed. NicholasSerota(London: 14 Ellsworth
Kellyto HillaRebay,29 Gallery,BettyParsonsGallery Papers,
Whitechapel ArtGallery,1987),pp. November (1952?),HillaRebay Archives ofAmerican Art,Smithsonian
45-46. SolomonR. Guggenheim
Archives, Institution,
Washington, D.C. For
MuseumofArt,NewYork. detailsofthecommission, seePatterson
5 Saint-Maur,"Pourquoil'artmural?"
Art SimsandEmilyRauhPulitzer, Ellsworth
2 (July/August
d'aujourd'hui 1949):2; 15 See Bois,pp. 11-12. Kelly:Sculpture(NewYork:Whitney
andMichelSeuphor, "Le mur,"Art MuseumofAmerican Art,1982),pp.
2 (June1949):unpaginated.
d'aujourd'hui 16 MichaelSeuphor,"Tendance," Derrikre 58-61.
le miroire
50 (October1952):2.
6 HenriMatisseto GeorgesCharbonnier 25 Ellsworth
Kelly,"Statement"
(1957?),
(1951),quotedinJohnHallmark Neff, 17 It is significant
thatin the1990 BettyParsonsPapers.
"Matisse,His CutoutsandtheUltimate exhibition thatEllsworthKellycurated
at
Method,"inHenriMatisse:Paper theMuseumofModernArtcalled 26 JackYoungerman,interview
byColette
ed.JackCowart(St.Louis:Saint
Cutouts, "Fragmentation andtheSingleForm," Robert,
February1968,Archives
of
LouisArtMuseumandDetroitInstitute MatisseandMondrianaretheonlyartists AmericanArt,Smithsonian
Institution,
ofArts,1977),p. 35. represented withtwoexamples oftheir D.C.
Washington,

53 American
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