Charter, ca. 1960
Oil on canvas, 95 1/2 x 60 in. (242.6 x 152.4 cm)
Given by Helen W. Benjamin in memory of Robert M. Benjamin
1966.143
Photo courtesy of the artist
After World War II, Kelly remained in Paris under the auspices of the GI Bill to study modern painting; returning to the United States by 1959, he then began to explore the painting of the New York School. Charter appears to have been made in response to the late work of Adolf Gottlieb, an Abstract Expressionist who by the 1950s was placing circles of saturated red above fields of black. In contrast to Gottlieb's work, the two regions of color in Charter—one organic and the other absolute in its minimalism—have clearly defined edges and show little evidence of brushwork. The poised dynamic between these two forms creates an energetic, powerful composition.
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