Object photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a slide by Bill Prochazka. Image color corre…

No Space Left

Artist Mark Tobey (American, 1890-1976)

CultureAmerican

Date1965

MediumTempera on paper

DimensionsOverall: 34 1/2 x 22 in. (87.6 x 55.9 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower right: ; Tobey ; '65

Credit LineBequest of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number89.50

Collections

Modern and Contemporary

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a tempera on paper painting. The colors are primarily black, gray, brown, red, orange, yellow, white and a bit of purple. The colors repeat, and are layered over the entire paper. The white marks are made on the surface, yet the multitude of colors below appear through the white. A brownish gray paint also fills in some gaps where layering may be less.

Label TextMark Tobey American, 1890–1976 No Space Left, 1965 Tempera on paper In No Space Left, Mark Tobey fills every single inch of canvas with rhythmic and repetitive strokes. The delicate lines draw on the artist’s study of Eastern philosophies and his experiments with Asian calligraphy. By covering the entire surface with a make-believe script in a technique he called “white writing,” Tobey suggests you shouldn’t try to read his painting like a words on a page. Instead, its mystical meaning must be seen and sensed. Bequest of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 89.50 ProvenanceJoyce and Arthur Dahl, 1968 - possibly 1976; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Bequest Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to Chrysler Museum of Art, 1989. Exhibition History"Mark Tobey," Otto Seligman Gallery, Seattle, Oregon, December 1965. (Exh. cat. pp. 18, 35) "Mark Tobey," Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany, May 19 - June 22, 1966. "Mark Tobey Retrospective," Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Tex., March 20 - April 21, 1968. (Exh. cat. no. 122) "Paintings from the Collection of Joyce and Arthur Dahl," Academy of Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 1970. "Tobey's 80: A Retrospective," Henry Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash., December 3, 1970 - January 31, 1971. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oreg., 1971. "Mark Tobey," Foster-White Gallery, Seattle, Wash., 1973. (Exh. cat. no. 30) "Mark Tobey," M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., April 10 - May 1, 1976. Published References_Mark Tobey Retrospective_, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1968, no. 122. Essay by David C. Mendoza, _Mark Tobey_, exh. cat., Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Wash., 1973. _Mark Tobey: April 10 to May 1, 1976_, exh. cat., M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., 1976. Arthur L. Dahl, _Mark Tobey Art and Belief_ (Oxford: George Ronald, 1984), 51, plate 16. ISBN: 0853981795 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 237, no. 145. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6