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he left this painting in its unfinished state and experience of a painting as a 'set of decisions' space nor with the image, but with the
apparently studied it for nearly a year. or 'references', so that the elements of the sensation of time. Not the sense of time which
Within the formal means of painting, in painting are experienced in an 'actual ' sense has been the underlying subject matter of
Onement 1the act of creation had individuated and in direct relation to the physical stance or painting, which involves feelings of nostalgia
itself through the primary act of division. The disposition of a spectator. Verticality and lateral or high drama; it is always associative and
vertical edge-to-edge division is presented both extension here become more than visual historical'. As a presupposition for experience
as a physical act through the quality of the brush directions; they are experienced in an abstract it has been logically argued that time is the
marks, and as a felt act through the use of colour sense, as the very means by which the world is only necessary condition for inner (subjective)
intensity and proportion in the painting. Equally physically 'negotiated'. cognition. In the recognition of felt states, the
important is the fact that the symmetry of the In By Twos, 1949, Newman emphasized the sense of space might be dispensed with, but
painting, by reducing composition to zero, experience of a painting as a 'concrete' image ultimately to maintain that something occurs at
centres attention on the vertical division as both by containing its scale and by drawing all, it is argued, is to be conscious of the
revelatory, and counteracts the contrary attention to its object quality through perceptually shifting now, of a condition of
experience of balanced sense relations. Further, increasing the depth of the frame to three inches. change. By disposing the elements of his
the verticality of the division also fixes the This sense of a painting's objectness and its paintings across its flat surface in lateral
consciousness of the spectator in space and acute identity with an immediate physical sense succession, Newman reduced the experience of
time as that of being immediate. However, this of location in space and time was taken to an extension in his paintings to the equivalent of
painting, partly on account of its modest size, even further extremity in the Wild Group, a subjective moment-to-moment continuum
projects itself more as an 'image of intent' rather 1950 (five paintings ranging in size between in time. By further increasing the size of his
than as a total experience. 95 3/4 x 1 5/8 in. and 36 x 6 in.). Here the vertical paintings (their specific scale) in relation to the
The sublime experience anticipated by this divisions are virtually isolated within a confined field of physical and visual attention, the
painting was to be progressively and space that forces its effect beyond the painting experience of moving from one apparent
magnificently fulfilled over the next twenty into natural space. subjective condition to another as 'extended'
years. In a manner that closely relates to In Onement III (72 X 34 in.), 1949, Newman or 'instantaneous', he was to intensify their
Newman's own writings his general pursuit returned to the particular form of Onement I and revelatory effect. But although he brilliantly
is probably best elucidated by Mircea Eliade in represented it as a more fully realized work. The reduced the manner in which a painting insists
`Myths, Dreams and Mysteries' : 'Upon the internal dimensions of the painting are xtended on being experienced as a 'static image' the
planes of ritual, ecstasy and metaphysics, so that they now directly relate to the physical large scale of his new work created a further
ascension is capable among other things of stance of the spectator. The zip is painted in predicament.
abolishing time and space and of "projecting `clearly' so that it is experienced more as a Undoubtedly, when moving in close-up
man" into the mythical instant of the Creation of `phenomenon' rather than as a physical act. The across the colour expanses of Vir Heroicus
the World, whereby he is in some sense "born colours are also darkened and the contrast Sublimus it functions superbly. But once the
again", being rendered contemporary with the between the 'zip' and the surrounding surface is painting is seen from a distance, as a whole or
birth of the World .. . When existence and time decreased, so that the total effect is concordant; as an image, its use of symmetry, while reducing
first became manifest . . . The radical "cure" of not dominated by any one aspect of the painting the counter effect of balanced felt relations,
the suffering of existence is attained by retracing such as the zip in Onement I. comes into conflict with the `quality' of the
one's footsteps in the sand of memory'. In paintings like The Name II (108 x 96 in.), darkened cadmium red colour areas. The outer
In the paintings that follow like By Twos 195o; Eve (96x 68 in.), 195o; Ad am (95 x 79 in.), areas tend to lose their tension, while the square
(66x 16 in.), 1949; Galaxy (24 X 20 ill.), 1949; 1951-52; Vir Heroicus Sublimus (95 X 213 in.), proportion of the central area tends to take on a
Abraham (82 3/4 X 34 1/2 in.), 1949; The Name I 1950-51, Newman directed more attention to value that causes the painting to appear to sag
(48 x 6o in.), 1949, the possibilities of the experience of the surface of his paintings. In along its middle.26
symmetrical placement in relation to the width Eve the primary experience of the surface of the In Cathedra, by comparison, which is
of the vertical divisions, and their relation to the painting is provided by the quality of the identical in size to Vir Heroicus Sublimus, the
internal dimensions of a painting is explored. enveloping presence of the cadmium orange symmetry of its divisions are perfectly poised in
By 'transposing' the placement of symmetrical expanse, which is felt as being both 'chaotic' relation to the quality of the colour areas. In
divisions across an area in a transparent (self- and defined by the indirect awareness of the close-up, moving across the painting, the large
evident) manner, a flexible method for extending alizaron crimson band along its right ed e. The expanse of saturated (slightly mottled) dark blue
the lateral experience of these paintings was band on the right edge of the painting, y on either side of the contrasting white division
developed. It also made it more possible to deflecting one's attention away from th centre intensely dramatizes its revelatory effect. The
relate these 'areas' to the intensity of colour — of the painting, also emphasizes the late al white division in turn poignantly defines the
the sense in Newman's paintings that a colour extension of the area, and stresses the e ge as experience of these two areas as being both
in a precise sense commands a certain area. The terminating one side of the painting. In his arbitrary and in a state of 'incipient order'.
alternative experience that the area of the colours painting the effect of the expanse of col ur This experience in turn is contrasted by the
had been determined by balancing the 'sense which extends attention in space, and a vertical effect of the barely perceptible whiteish-blue
effect' of one area against another would in band which fixes one's attention in space, are division that cuts across the second expanse of
Newman's paintings not only have negated brought into extreme contrast. It is in fact blue a short distance in from the right-hand
their wholeness (of the image being characteristic of Newman's procedure to push edge. From a distance the dark blue square on
synonomous with its parts), but would also the internal experience of his paintings to one the left of the division is perfectly positioned in
certainly have counteracted the experience of or other end-point of consciousness. relation to the larger rectangular area on the
the zips or bands (Newman's terms for the In Vir Heroicus Sublimus (95 X 213 in,), right, which in turn is broken by the faint
vertical lines in his paintings) as primary acts of 1950-51, and, later, Cathedra (96 X 213 n.), blue-white division into another square and a
division. 1951, the full grandeur and complexity of narrow area one-fifth of its width. Although
In Abraham, 1949, the internal dimensions of Newman's art is disclosed. By this stage he had the effect of this painting verges on the
the painting were expanded so that they completely redefined the form of the experience melodramatic, it is an indication of Newman's
directly related to the physical dimensions of a of his paintings. In a short prologue for a new remarkable control that it does not degenerate
spectator and his field of experience. In this aesthetic, 1949, he stated: 'My paintings are into a picturesque experience.
painting Newman began to break down the concerned neither with the manipulation of In Newman's painting, colour, together with
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