Barnett Newman (1905 – 1970)
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Barnett Newman was an American, Abstract Expressionist painter best-known for his color field paintings. Newman was born in New York City to a Russian-Polish immigrant family. Before realizing his interest in painting, Newman studied philosophy at the City College of New York.
During the 1940s, Newman began to both write critical art reviews and make his own paintings. His first exhibit was in 1948 at Betty Parsons Gallery. At this point, his paintings were somewhat surrealist or expressionistic. As his style matured and developed, he began to paint pure, vertical strips of color, which were divided by a marking known as a ¨zip¨.
From 1958 to 1966, Newman did a series of white paintings after recovering from a heart attack. The series was titled Lema sabachthani and is thought to be a memorial for holocaust victims.
After the white paintings, Newman began to use vibrant primary colors and oddly shaped canvases. In addition to painting, Newman made several steel sculptures, and his most famous was Broken Obelisk, a monument of a pyramid and inverted obelisk.
While Newman’s work was not greatly appreciated during his life, he has remained an influence to artists today. After his death, the Barnett Newman Foundation was established to honor his accomplishments. Newman’s work is now in private collections and public spaces across the United States. Do you think you own a piece by Barnett Newman? Contact us. We are the Barnett Newman experts.