1960, Morris Louis, Beta Upsilon (detail) -- Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington)
From the museum label: Recently conserved, this majestically scaled work has not been seen in public for more than thirty years. Morris Louis created it by directing streams of paint down the sides of the canvas, allowing the color to soak into the fibers. He left the central expanse blank, a bold choice that creates much of the composition's visual tension. Louis produced all of his most influential paintings in the last five years of his life. He worked in the dining room of his house in Northwest DC, a space so small he could only unroll a single canvas, or part of a canvas, at a time.
Link to the full painting.
1960, Morris Louis, Beta Upsilon (detail) -- Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington)
From the museum label: Recently conserved, this majestically scaled work has not been seen in public for more than thirty years. Morris Louis created it by directing streams of paint down the sides of the canvas, allowing the color to soak into the fibers. He left the central expanse blank, a bold choice that creates much of the composition's visual tension. Louis produced all of his most influential paintings in the last five years of his life. He worked in the dining room of his house in Northwest DC, a space so small he could only unroll a single canvas, or part of a canvas, at a time.
Link to the full painting.