American Modernism
1910–1960Georgia O'Keeffe's flowers and desert, Franz Kline's black and white. American vision finding its own forms.
Oil on canvas. O'Keeffe's smooth gradations. Kline's house-painter brushes on white canvas.
Georgia O'Keeffe
1887–1986American
Flowers as cosmic forms, desert bones as sculpture. Saw the vast in the intimate and the intimate in the vast.
Smooth, precise gradations of color. No visible brushwork. Clean edges. Desert palette of whites, pinks, blues against warm earth.
Further reading: O'Keeffe (Taschen Basic Art Series) — Britta BenkeJimson weed white
The luminous white of magnified flower petals.
Material: Zinc white, titanium white, smooth application
RGB(232, 224, 216)
Ghost Ranch pink
Pink of New Mexico cliffs and bone.
Material: Cadmium red, lead white, yellow ochre
RGB(200, 160, 144)
New Mexico sky
The deep blue of high-altitude desert sky.
Material: Cerulean blue, cobalt blue, titanium white
RGB(74, 138, 186)
Desert bone
Bleached white of sun-dried animal skulls.
Material: Titanium white, raw umber, yellow ochre trace
RGB(222, 208, 192)
Red poppy
Saturated red of magnified flower close-ups.
Material: Cadmium red, alizarin crimson
RGB(184, 32, 32)
Mesa ochre
Warm ochre of desert mesa and adobe.
Material: Yellow ochre, raw sienna, cadmium yellow
RGB(184, 138, 74)
Pigments: Zinc white · Titanium white · Cadmium red · Ochre · Lead white · Cobalt blue · Cerulean blue · Umber · Alizarin crimson · Cadmium yellow · Sienna
Franz Kline
1910–1962American
Painter of black and white — massive calligraphic strokes on white ground. Structural, architectural, absolute.
House-painter brushes, 4-6 inches wide. Commercial black and white enamel. Painted the white as actively as the black.
Further reading: Franz Kline — Harry F. GaughGirder black
Massive black strokes — bridge girders, railway trestles.
Material: Commercial black enamel, house-painter brush
RGB(13, 10, 8)
Active white
White painted actively — not background but positive form.
Material: Commercial white enamel, house-painter brush
RGB(233, 224, 216)
Dry brush grey
Grey where the loaded brush runs dry.
Material: Dragged brush, partially loaded
RGB(123, 122, 120)
Blurred edge
Where black meets white imprecisely.
Material: Wet-on-wet overlap of black and white enamel
RGB(75, 74, 72)
Canvas warmth
Bare canvas visible where neither black nor white reaches.
Material: Unprimed cotton duck canvas
RGB(219, 200, 168)
Late color accent
Occasional vivid color in late paintings.
Material: Cadmium orange-red enamel
RGB(200, 74, 42)
Pigments: Cadmium yellow
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