Upstate

Artist Stanley Whitney (American, born 1946)

Date2005

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 72 x 72 inches (182.88 x 182.88 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the William T. Kemper Foundation–Commerce Bank, Trustee

Object number2008.9

On View

Not on view

Collections

Contemporary Art

Terms

DescriptionThis painting is composed of 4 rows of blocks of colors subdivided by horizontal stripes. The second row of colors is the largest and from left to right, the blocks of color are red, orange, blue, yellow-green, and red. A yellow and red stripe runs horizontally below this block of colors.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Matt Connors Ryan McLaughlin Shannon Mustipher Stanley Whitney, Susanne Hilberry Gallery, Detroit, January 26-March 10, 2007, no cat.

Sparks! The William T. Kemper Collecting Initiative, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, May 3–July 20, 2008.

Gallery Label

Stanley Whitney’s Upstate is a spatially gridded and balanced painting composed of blocks of saturated color in horizontal rows separated by stripes of other hues. Whitney works intuitively, allowing the colors to advance and recede to create vibrant rhythms. He has likened this process to traditional African American call and response songs, "one color calls forth another." Visually, Upstate belongs to a long tradition of geometric abstraction. Whitney associates his work with the rhythms of jazz, Afro-Caribbean colors, and African and African American textiles.

Provenance

With Esso Gallery, New York;
Purchased from Esso Gallery by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2008.

Published References

Stanley Whitney (New York: Esso Gallery; Brescia, Italy: Galleria Lagorio Arte Contemporanea Gallery and Books, 2006), 82 (repro.), 83.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.