Ellsworth Kelly

Ellsworth Kelly has been a widely influential force in the post-war art world. He first rose to critical acclaim in the 1950s with his bright, multi-paneled and largely monochromatic canvases. Maintaining a persistent focus on the dynamic relationships between shape, form and color.

Kelly was one of the first artists to create irregularly shaped canvases. His rectangular panels gave way to unconventionally shaped canvases, painted in bold, monochromatic colors. At the same time, he was also making sculptures comprised of flat shapes and bright color. His sculptures were largely two-dimensional and shallow, more so than his paintings. In his works, Kelly placed primary importance in form and shape.

One very famous work of Ellsworth Kelly is the "Red, Yellow, Blue", pictured below:

His monochrome canvas redefine the beauty and drama of the single-color process. Color is the actor on this stage, the figure that transfixes the audience's gaze. These colors and shapes become part of the subconscious of the viewer, who feels the reds, blues, yellows as emotions.

Quoting Ellsworth Kelly, he said, "The form of my painting is content. My work is made of single or multiple panels: rectangle, curved or square. I am less interested in marks on the panels than the "presence" of the panels themselves. In 'Red, Yellow, Blue', the square panels present color. It was made to exist forever in the present; it is an idea and can be repeated anytime in the future."

Some of Ellsworth Kelly's work:

His work further challenged viewer's conceptions of space. Ellsworth Kelly vitally influenced the development of Minimalism, Hard-edge Painting, Color Field, and Pop Art.