The color etchings that Stanley Whitney produced in 2017 are musical and improvisational with a spectrum of colors created in a grid that reinvigorate the mind and spirit. Each so unique and similar in design, the viewer is brought into themselves while encountering these works, the negative space allowing for contemplation of these semi-organic shapes, and how the space relates to the subject matter. Whitney uses varying line weights when placing his values, which allow the true ranges of color to burst forth from the page, the light blue reverberating with life as the dark ink deposits harmonious swirl together and throughout the grid that create a compelling image. Of the etchings Whitney created, this work showcases an amazing sense of delicacy with the colors, lines appearing like phantoms because of how translucent they are, juxtaposed with the dark dots rippling and streaming throughout the grid as they boldly claim your attention. His mastery of the work allows the chaos of the printing process to coincide with the gentle calmness of this shade of blue that resonates outward, creating an ethereal, yet grounding piece.

Though there is no specific subject matter, the abstract artist states in New Waves: Contemporary Art and the Issues Shaping Its Tomorrow (September 2021, Skira Publishers), “I wasn’t interested in Pop art; I wanted something with depth. When I saw Mark Rothko and Morris Louis, I felt that I was home, that was just who I was. I just embraced that, stuck to it and believed in that.” Embracing the color field and simply learning to experiment over decades with the single compositional strategy of rendering grids with seemingly inexhaustible variations of color. Overall, this work offers a delicate balance of vibrant color and organic lines to create a composition filled with poetic poise.

Created in 2017, this color etching in hand signed and dated in pencil by Stanley Whitney (Philadelphia, 1964 - ) in the lower right margin. From the edition of 20 in the lower right.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Stanley Whitney Untitled, 2017 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this artwork.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Stanley Whitney Untitled, 2017 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.