Navigator Tape
Artist
Thomas Downing
(American, 1928-1985)
Date1966
MediumAcrylic on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 90 x 63 in. (228.6 x 160 cm)
ClassificationsModern art
Credit LineGift of Mr. Marion F. Mecklenburg
Object number67.85.1
Terms
- Color
- Stripes
- Green
- Purple
- White
- Tan
- Black
- Blue
- Orange
- Abstract
- Washington Color Painters
Collections
On View
On viewLabel TextThomas Downing American, 1928–1985 Navigator Tape, 1966 Acrylic on canvas In the mid-1960s, Washington color school painter Thomas Downing produced a series of monumental canvases with powerfully angled formats. As Downing explained, “The rectangle or balanced canvas had ceased to satisfy me,” and in works like Navigator Tape he freed his boldly striped imagery from the confines of the traditional frame. Here, the broad bands of color seem to vibrate and angle out into our own space. The painting’s beveled edges enhance this optical effect, suggesting we are seeing only a partial section of endless ribbons of color. Gift of Marion F. Mecklenberg 67.85.1
