White Median

Kenneth Nolands White Median from 1968 is an acrylic on canvas painting that exemplifies the artists signature format of concentric circles, chevrons, and stripes rendered in flat, unmodulated color on a square canvas, a format that made him one of the leading figures of Color Field painting and Washington Color Painting. Noland, who developed his mature style in the late 1950s and early 1960s under the influence of Clement Greenbergs formalist criticism and Helen Frankenthalers stain painting technique, produced a body of work that is remarkable for its consistency of format and its variety of chromatic effect. The white median of the title may refer to a central band or stripe that divides the composition, organizing the chromatic elements around a neutral axis that allows the colors on either side to interact without the dominance of a single hue. The acrylic medium, which Noland adopted early in his career, allows him to achieve the flat, unmodulated color that is essential to his aesthetic, in which color is presented directly to the eye without the mediation of brushwork or compositional hierarchy. The year 1968 places this painting in the period when Noland was expanding his format from the concentric circles of his early work to the chevrons and stripes that would occupy him for the rest of his career, and White Median represents a transitional moment in which elements of both formats may coexist on the same canvas.

Nolands paintings are foundational works in the history of Color Field painting and Washington Color Painting, and their influence on the development of abstract painting in the second half of the 20th century extends from the Minimalists who adopted his format to the painters who developed his chromatic innovations. White Median exemplifies the direct presentation of color that defines his contribution to American abstraction.

A 1968 acrylic painting by Noland exemplifying his signature format of flat, unmodulated color organized around a central white median, representing a transitional moment in his expansion from concentric circles to chevrons and stripes.