#23
- Date
- 1962
- Material
- Acrylic on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 80 5/16 x 34 1/2 in. (204 x 87.6 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer Jr.
- Rights
- © 1962 Morris Louis
- Object Number
- 1730:1983
NOTES
Nine adjacent stripes of color cascade down this long, slender canvas. Warm orange and yellow strips overlap with cool hues of blue, green, and black without losing their intensity. Morris Louis made this work by pouring thinned but richly colorful paint from the top of an unprimed canvas with a careful, controlled motion. Daubing the stripes at the visible top edge to give a clean, rounded finish, Louis allowed excess paint to run off the bottom of the canvas. In his “stripe paintings,” such as this one, the side-by-side placement of contrasting colors generates optical effects, making the bands of color appear to vibrate and move.
Provenance
1962
Park International, New York, NY [1]
1962 - 1973
Lawrence Rubin, Paris, France, purchased from artist before July 1962
1973 - 1974
Milton Fischmann, St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Lawrence Rubin [2]
1974 - 1975
The Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, MO, purchased from Milton Fischmann
1975 - 1983
Joseph Pulitzer Jr. (1913-1993) and Emily Rauh Pulitzer (b.1933), St. Louis, MO, purchased from the Greenberg Gallery
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Joseph Pulitzer Jr. and Emily Rauh Pulitzer [3]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the 1988 catalogue of the Pulitzer collection [Rudenstine, Angelica Zander. "Modern Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture Collected by Emily and Joseph Pulitzer Jr." Cambridge: Harvard University Art Museums, vol. 4, 1988, cat. 282]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] According to the catalogue raisonné, the first owner was Park International. This agency may have been involved in the work's sale to Lawrence Rubin in Paris, as Rudenstine indicates the Pulitzers acquired the work directly from the artist [Upright, Diane. "Morris Louis: the Complete Paintings." New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1985, p. 233].
[2] Information from Lawrence Rubin's records, as cited in Rudenstine.
[3] Deed of gift dated December 22, 1983 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, December 16, 1983.
Park International, New York, NY [1]
1962 - 1973
Lawrence Rubin, Paris, France, purchased from artist before July 1962
1973 - 1974
Milton Fischmann, St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Lawrence Rubin [2]
1974 - 1975
The Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, MO, purchased from Milton Fischmann
1975 - 1983
Joseph Pulitzer Jr. (1913-1993) and Emily Rauh Pulitzer (b.1933), St. Louis, MO, purchased from the Greenberg Gallery
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Joseph Pulitzer Jr. and Emily Rauh Pulitzer [3]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the 1988 catalogue of the Pulitzer collection [Rudenstine, Angelica Zander. "Modern Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture Collected by Emily and Joseph Pulitzer Jr." Cambridge: Harvard University Art Museums, vol. 4, 1988, cat. 282]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] According to the catalogue raisonné, the first owner was Park International. This agency may have been involved in the work's sale to Lawrence Rubin in Paris, as Rudenstine indicates the Pulitzers acquired the work directly from the artist [Upright, Diane. "Morris Louis: the Complete Paintings." New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1985, p. 233].
[2] Information from Lawrence Rubin's records, as cited in Rudenstine.
[3] Deed of gift dated December 22, 1983 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, December 16, 1983.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.