Palais Jamais (Who's Afraid of Purple and Green?)
Artist
Ron Gorchov
(American, 1930 - 2020)
Date2005
MediumOil on linen
DimensionsOverall: 55 × 70 × 10 inches (139.7 × 177.8 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the William T. Kemper Foundation–Commerce Bank, Trustee
Object number2007.6
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThis painting curves out and away from the wall at the top and bottom. The painted image consists of two, curving and rounded abstract shapes rendered in green. The surface os the canvas is painted with sketchy vertical brushstrokes which are primarily purple.Gallery LabelRon Gorchov invests this painting with the quality of an object by extending its sculptural form into our space. His shaped canvases are described as saddles or shields. The curved form refers to revelations in modern physics about curved space and the absence of straight lines in the universe.
The title, Palais Jamais, was inspired by a palace built in Morocco in 1879 for the Grand Vizier of Jamaï. The literal translation from the French is "Never Palace." The subtitle-Who's Afraid of Purple and Green?-is a play on the Abstract Expressionist painter Barnett Newman's well-known painting Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue.
The title, Palais Jamais, was inspired by a palace built in Morocco in 1879 for the Grand Vizier of Jamaï. The literal translation from the French is "Never Palace." The subtitle-Who's Afraid of Purple and Green?-is a play on the Abstract Expressionist painter Barnett Newman's well-known painting Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue.
Copyright© Ron Gorchov Estate
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