Jules Olitski
JULES OLITSKI "WALL SHIKKER" 1968
Jules Olitski (1922-2007) is one of the most collected and accomplished artists associated with the color-field movement, if not 20th-century American abstraction.
Possibly one of the most "demanding" abstract artists - appreciating Olitski is not always easy. At first glance, some people dismiss his work from this period as simply being a mass of color.
But Olitski asks you to get up close to the work, to lose yourself in the color, to consider how it is created and contained on the picture plane...He wants the viewer to think about the conventions and strategies used by his contemporaries and predecessors active in abstraction.
Throughout his lengthy career Olitski experimented with different techniques, creating a body of work that was dynamic and ever changing. One of Olitski's most radical reinventions/inventions occurred in the mid-1960's when he adopted industrial sprays.
During this period the leading American abstract artists were staining their canvases or taping up surfaces for hard-edge compositions. Olitski's spray was either an evolution or a rejection of this approach, depending on one's perspective.
The spray technique produced minuscule droplets of vibrant color that float like a mist or dew on the canvas. Olitski continued to spray the paint on his canvases, creating works that were highly innovative and nuanced and unlike anything his contemporaries were creating.
This painting is an exceptional example from this remarkable era. The shape of the canvas, the palette and his signature ombre mist effect are united in an elegant domestically proportioned scale.
At the time this painting was created Olitski was arguably the leading artist of the American avant-garde. In 1966 he co-represented the United States at the Venice Biennale, followed by one man exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery (1967) and the Metropolitan Museum (1969). Olitski canvases from this era, in such a radiant color, rarely come to market.
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"Wall Shikker"
Signed, titled and dated by the artist verso
Andre Emmerich Gallery inventory stamp verso
Fragment of Susan Gersh Gallery, Los Angeles verso
Acrylic on canvas
USA, 1968
77.5"H 19.5"W (canvas)
Original period frame
Very good condition.
Provenance: Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York
Nicholas Wilder Gallery, Los Angeles (acquired directly from the above)
Susan Gersh Gallery, Los Angeles
Acquired through Vesti Corporation, Boston by the present owner in circa 1983
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