1. Overview
Kenneth Noland (April 10, 1924 - January 5, 2010) was an American painter recognized as a leading figure in the development of Color Field painting. While initially associated with Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s and later with Minimalism in the early 1960s, Noland's enduring legacy is rooted in his distinctive contributions to the Washington Color School movement. His artistic career was characterized by an exploration of color relationships and spatial dynamics, leading to the creation of iconic series featuring circles (targets), chevrons, stripes, and shaped canvases. Noland's approach to painting, which involved staining unprimed canvases with thinned paint, minimized the artist's visible intervention and emphasized the purity of color and form. His work garnered significant recognition, including a major retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1977 and exhibitions at prominent international institutions.
2. Early Life and Education
Kenneth Noland's formative years and artistic training laid the groundwork for his innovative approach to abstract art.
2.1. Childhood and Youth
Born Kenneth Clifton Noland on April 10, 1924, in Asheville, North Carolina, he was one of five children to Harry Caswell Noland (1896-1975), a pathologist, and Bessie (1897-1980). His siblings were David, Bill, Neil, and Harry Jr. His younger brother, Neil, born in 1927, also became a sculptor, studying art at Black Mountain College alongside Kenneth and Harry. After completing high school, Noland enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1942. As a veteran of World War II, he utilized the G.I. Bill to pursue his passion for art.
2.2. Education and Early Artistic Influences
Noland's artistic education began at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where he studied with several influential figures. Ilya Bolotowsky introduced him to neoplasticism and the work of Piet Mondrian. He also delved into Bauhaus theory and color under the tutelage of Josef Albers. During this period, Noland developed a keen interest in Paul Klee and Klee's sensitivity to color. In 1948 and 1949, Noland further honed his skills in Paris, working with the sculptor Ossip Zadkine. He also studied under Willem de Kooning at Black Mountain College. His first exhibition of paintings was held in Paris in 1949.
3. Artistic Career
Kenneth Noland's artistic career was marked by a continuous evolution of style and technique, culminating in his signature contributions to Color Field painting.
3.1. Early Development and Washington Color School
After returning to the United States from Paris, Noland taught art in Washington, D.C., at Catholic University from 1951 to 1960 and at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. During the early 1950s, while teaching night classes at the Washington Workshop Center for the Arts, Noland met Morris Louis. They became close friends. In 1953, the influential art critic Clement Greenberg introduced Noland and Louis to Helen Frankenthaler in her New York City studio. Witnessing Frankenthaler's new paintings inspired Noland and Louis to adopt her "soak-stain" technique, which involved applying thinned paint directly onto unprimed canvases, allowing the color to literally soak into the fabric. This method became a hallmark of the artists associated with the Washington Color School, a movement Noland helped establish.
3.2. Color Field Painting and Shaped Canvases
Noland's artistic journey saw him transition from the gestural intensity of Abstract Expressionism towards a more reductive and planar approach, eventually leading to his pivotal role in Color Field painting. His works can be largely categorized into four distinct groups: circles (often referred to as targets), chevrons, stripes, and shaped canvases. His deep interest in the relationship between the painted image and the physical edge of the canvas led him to produce a series of concentric rings or bullseyes, known as targets, exemplified by Beginning (1958), which notably utilized unconventional color combinations. This particular focus also marked a divergence from Louis in 1958.
In 1964, Noland was featured in the seminal exhibition Post-Painterly Abstraction, curated by Clement Greenberg. This exhibition toured the country and significantly contributed to establishing Color Field painting as a major new movement in contemporary art of the 1960s. Noland was a pioneer in the use of the shaped canvas, initially with a series of symmetrical and asymmetrical diamonds or chevrons. In these works, the outer edges of the canvas became as fundamentally important to the composition as the central image. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, his shaped canvases became increasingly irregular and asymmetrical, resulting in highly complex structures that showcased sophisticated and controlled interplay of color and surface integrity.
3.3. Artistic Technique and Philosophy
Kenneth Noland's artistic technique revolutionized the application of paint. Instead of using a brush to apply paint to the canvas's surface, he stained the canvas directly with thinned colors. This innovative method aimed to minimize the artist's visible intervention through brushstrokes, shifting the focus from the artist's hand to the art itself. He meticulously emphasized spatial relationships within his compositions by incorporating unstained, bare canvas sections, which provided a stark contrast against the vibrant colors used in his paintings. Noland employed a simplified abstraction, ensuring that the design elements did not detract from the powerful impact of color, allowing the color to be the primary subject and convey meaning. This pursuit of a clear, demarcated color field, influenced by principles of Cubism, often utilizing primary colors, underscored his emphasis on the flatness of the picture plane.
4. Major Exhibitions and Recognition
Kenneth Noland's work was widely exhibited and acclaimed throughout his career. His first solo exhibition took place at Galerie Raymond Creuze in Paris in 1948. In 1957, he had his debut solo exhibition in New York at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery. His international prominence was solidified in 1964 when he represented half of the American pavilion at the prestigious Venice Biennale.
The mid-1960s saw his work exhibited at the Washington Gallery of Modern Art and the Jewish Museum (New York) in 1965. A significant career milestone was the major retrospective dedicated to his work in 1977 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. This exhibition subsequently traveled to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio in 1978.
Noland continued to have solo exhibitions at various international institutions, including the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City (1983), the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum in Bilbao, Spain (1985), the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio (1986 and 2007), and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2004). In 2006, his Stripe Paintings were showcased at the Tate in London, and a solo exhibition was held at the Tate Liverpool the same year. Noland's final solo exhibition during his lifetime, Kenneth Noland Shaped Paintings 1981-82, opened on October 29, 2009, at the Leslie Feely Fine Art Gallery in New York City. Following his death, the Guggenheim Museum honored him with a solo presentation entitled Kenneth Noland, 1924-2010: A Tribute in 2010.
5. Personal Life
Kenneth Noland was married multiple times and had several children who also pursued careers in the arts. His first documented marriage was to Cornelia Langer, daughter of U.S. Senator William Langer from North Dakota. They married in 1950 and divorced in 1957. Together, they had three children: daughters Cady Noland (born 1956) and Lyndon (also known as Lyn), and a son, William. Cady Noland is a renowned installation artist and conceptual sculptor. Lyn Noland is a sculptor and an Emmy Award-winning camerawoman, while William Langer Noland is a photographer and sculptor, serving as an associate professor of visual arts at Duke University.
From November 1964 until June 1970, Noland lived with Stephanie Gordon, a psychologist, whom he married in April 1967 before divorcing in June 1970. He later married Peggy L. Schiffer, an art historian, around 1970, with whom he had a son, Samuel Jesse. His fourth marriage was to Paige Rense, the editor-in-chief of Architectural Digest, in Bennington, Vermont, on April 10, 1994. Rense had been married three times previously. In the 1960s, Noland also had an affair with artist and socialite Mary Pinchot Meyer.
6. Death
Kenneth Noland died at the age of 85 on January 5, 2010. He passed away at his home in Port Clyde, Maine, due to kidney cancer. His death marked the end of a prolific career that profoundly impacted the landscape of abstract art.
7. Legacy and Influence
Kenneth Noland's pioneering work in Color Field painting left a significant and lasting legacy on the art world and beyond.
7.1. Artistic Influence and Students
Noland's distinct approach to color and form, particularly his staining technique and use of unprimed canvases, significantly influenced subsequent generations of artists. His emphasis on pure color and the flat picture plane encouraged a new direction in abstraction, moving away from the gestural concerns of Abstract Expressionism. Among his notable students were sculptor Jennie Lea Knight and painter Alice Mavrogordato, who carried forward elements of his innovative spirit in their own works.
7.2. Cultural and Design Impact
The geometric precision and vibrant color combinations characteristic of Noland's art extended their influence beyond the realm of fine art, making an impact on design and fashion. For instance, in 1984, American menswear designer Alexander Julian incorporated Noland's graphic linear patterns and color schemes into his knitwear collections. Similarly, the Italian luxury brand Salvatore Ferragamo was inspired by Noland's target motif, releasing shoes that featured this distinctive design element.
7.3. Posthumous Tributes and Memorials
Following his death, Kenneth Noland's contributions to art continued to be honored. In 2010, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum mounted a special solo presentation of his work, entitled Kenneth Noland, 1924-2010: A Tribute, celebrating his artistic achievements and enduring impact on modern art.
8. Selected Works
- (1958) Ex-Nihilio
- (1958) Lunar Episode
- (1958) Beginning
- (1958) Inside
- (1958) Heat
- (1959) And Half
- (1959) Split
- (1959) Extent
- (1960) Back and Front
- (1960) Earthen Bound
- (1960) Play
- (1961) Highlights
- (1961) Epigram
- (1961) Turnsole
- (1963) Ringing Bell
- (1963) Drifting
- (1963) Thrust
- (1963) East-West
- (1963) New Light
- (1963) Cadmium Radiance
- (1964) Baba Yagga
- (1964) Halfway
- (1964) And Again
- (1964) Tropical Zone
- (1964) Trans West
- (1965) Stack
- (1966) Galore
- (1966) Sound
- (1967) Summer Plain
- (1967) Stria
- (1967) Open End
- (1968) Transvaries
- (1969) Pan
- (1973) Interlocking Color
- (1973) Under Color
- (1975) Burnt Beige
- (1978) Oasis
- (1978) Tune
- (1985) Snow and Ice
- (1989) Doors: Time Ahead
- (1999) Refresh
- (2000) Mysteries: Infanta
- (2000) Mysteries: Afloat
9. Museum Collections
Kenneth Noland's works are housed in numerous prominent art museums and institutions worldwide, including:
- Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
- Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
- Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia
- Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
- Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
- Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
- Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
- Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio
- Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa
- Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan
- Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection, Albany, New York
- Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
- Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California
- Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
- Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California
- Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, Florida
- The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
- Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
- Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
- Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Tate, London, England
- Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut
- Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York