Description

Hard edges? Hard-edge!

Ellsworth Kelly is one of the most significant and yet idiosyncratic representatives of American art after 1945, and one of the most important exponents of hard-edge painting. His works employ a very striking visual language. Their sharp-edged, monochrome forms float in front of the walls as sculptural bodies, changing their appearance according the angle they are viewed from. They taper to a point or seem to subtly stretch or swell, depending on their color. The wall thereby assumes the role of pictorial ground, of complementary form and intervening space. The hanging of the paintings recruits the wall as an accomplice, activating it and making it part of Ellsworth Kelly’s art. 

Since the 1950s Ellsworth Kelly has also worked intensively in sculpture. His White Curves (2001) was installed in the grounds of the Fondation Beyeler in 2002. With its single fold, the aluminum sculpture stands like a billowing sail in front of a magnificent group of mature trees. Its crisp silhouette cuts out a hole in nature, only to fill the gap with a different view of the gardens, now seen as a reflection upon the sculpture’s smooth white surface. Walking around White Curves, the viewer is astonished and inspired by its many different faces. The present volume is an ideal companion to a visit to the museum followed by a stroll through the park.

ANSICHTEN no. 7 takes an in-depth look at the artistic oeuvre of Ellsworth Kelly. Detailed descriptions, technical data, special features, background information, and questions of interpretation all fall within the scope of this booklet.

ANSICHTEN is aimed at art lovers and teachers looking to engage in greater depth with the works of the Fondation Beyeler.

The journal also features a practical section, which presents ideas, tasks and experiments that may be carried out at the museum, at school or at home.

ANSICHTEN playfully provides readers with thorough knowledge of the works of the Beyeler Collection.