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Lot Essay
THIS WORK IS RECORDED UNDER NUMBER EK531 IN THE ELLSWORTH KELLY ARCHIVES.
WHITE TRIANGLE WITH BLACK BELONGS TO A SERIES OF PAINTINGS OF RECTANGLES JOINED TO TRIANGLES THAT KELLY DEVELOPED IN THE MID 1970S. THESE WERE BASED ON HIS OBSERVATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A DORMER WINDOW AND THE STEEP ROOFLINE OF A HOUSE SEEN FROM HIS UPSTATE NEW YORK STUDIO. BELIEVING THAT "NO FORM IS QUITE IDENTIFIABLE, NO ANGLE... QUITE WHAT IT SEEMS," FROM 1974 ONWARDS KELLY RESTRICTED HIMSELF ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO THE USE OF ONLY BLACK, WHITE AND GREY IN ORDER TO HIGHLIGHT THE RELATIONSHIP OF FORMS ALONG THE CONNECTING DIAGONAL EDGE OF HIS PANELS. FOR KELLY, EXPLORING THE UNUSUAL AND OFTEN UNSEEN RELATIONSHIPS OF EVERYDAY FORMS IS THE PRIMARY SUBJECT OF HIS ART.
"AS WE MOVE," HE HAS SAID, "LOOKING AT HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT THINGS WE SEE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF SHAPES. ROOVES, WALLS, CEILINGS ARE ALL RECTANGLES, BUT WE DON'T SEE THEM THAT WAY. IN REALITY THEY'RE VERY ELUSIVE FORMS. THE WAY THE VIEW THROUGH RUNGS OF A CHAIR CHANGES WHEN YOU MOVE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT - I WANT TO CAPTURE SOME OF THAT MYSTERY IN MY WORK. IN MY PAINTINGS I'M NOT INVENTING; MY IDEAS COME FROM CONSTANTLY INVESTIGATING HOW THINGS LOOK." (ELLSWORTH KELLY CITED IN: C. HAGEN, THE SHAPE OF SEEING: ELLSWORTH KELLY'S PHOTOGRAPHS, 'APERTURE', NEW YORK 1991, NO. 125, P. 45)
WHITE TRIANGLE WITH BLACK BELONGS TO A SERIES OF PAINTINGS OF RECTANGLES JOINED TO TRIANGLES THAT KELLY DEVELOPED IN THE MID 1970S. THESE WERE BASED ON HIS OBSERVATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A DORMER WINDOW AND THE STEEP ROOFLINE OF A HOUSE SEEN FROM HIS UPSTATE NEW YORK STUDIO. BELIEVING THAT "NO FORM IS QUITE IDENTIFIABLE, NO ANGLE... QUITE WHAT IT SEEMS," FROM 1974 ONWARDS KELLY RESTRICTED HIMSELF ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY TO THE USE OF ONLY BLACK, WHITE AND GREY IN ORDER TO HIGHLIGHT THE RELATIONSHIP OF FORMS ALONG THE CONNECTING DIAGONAL EDGE OF HIS PANELS. FOR KELLY, EXPLORING THE UNUSUAL AND OFTEN UNSEEN RELATIONSHIPS OF EVERYDAY FORMS IS THE PRIMARY SUBJECT OF HIS ART.
"AS WE MOVE," HE HAS SAID, "LOOKING AT HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT THINGS WE SEE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF SHAPES. ROOVES, WALLS, CEILINGS ARE ALL RECTANGLES, BUT WE DON'T SEE THEM THAT WAY. IN REALITY THEY'RE VERY ELUSIVE FORMS. THE WAY THE VIEW THROUGH RUNGS OF A CHAIR CHANGES WHEN YOU MOVE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT - I WANT TO CAPTURE SOME OF THAT MYSTERY IN MY WORK. IN MY PAINTINGS I'M NOT INVENTING; MY IDEAS COME FROM CONSTANTLY INVESTIGATING HOW THINGS LOOK." (ELLSWORTH KELLY CITED IN: C. HAGEN, THE SHAPE OF SEEING: ELLSWORTH KELLY'S PHOTOGRAPHS, 'APERTURE', NEW YORK 1991, NO. 125, P. 45)