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Robert Ryman
1930, Nashville - New York
Robert Ryman
1930, Nashville - New York
From 1955, the work of the American artist Robert Ryman has been characterised by an intuitive analysis of the basic principles of the art of painting. This approach is typical of what is known as ‘fundamental painting’, an international trend that evolved from minimal art in the 1960s and 70s.
Ryman opts consistently for square formats and white paint, which hold no specific symbolic or mystic significance for him. ‘The white’, Ryman said, ‘is just a means of emphasising other elements of the painting: the surface, texture, edges, colour, the absorption and reflection of light, and even the medium onto which the paint is applied’. Squares know no direction and can therefore be precisely linked to the walls or space as a whole.
Details that generally go unnoticed, such as borders, signatures and dates, play an explicit part as compositional elements. Ryman experiments with a range of paints on various surfaces such as steel, copper, aluminium, plastic, vinyl, fibreglass and Plexiglas. He also explores unorthodox ways of hanging paintings, using things like screws, wooden blocks or metal brackets.
The museum has acquired Concert (1987) and Journal (1998).
Images
Collection Bonnefantenmuseum
Nohow on, Samuel Beckett, bibliofiele uitgave met zeven kleurenetsen van Robert Ryman, 1989
Journal, 1988
Concert, 1987
Nohow on, Samuel Beckett, bibliofiele uitgave met zeven kleurenetsen van Robert Ryman, 1989
Journal, 1988
Concert, 1987