Be II 1961 - 1964

Barnett Newman's Be II, made with oil on canvas, is a lesson in reduction. It’s mostly white with two vertical stripes in dark brown and orange on either side, making the canvas appear like a doorway. The painting's surface has a way of absorbing light, and you get a sense that Newman was really thinking about how the paint sits on the canvas, how it breathes. The orange stripe is raw, and the fuzzy edges give the painting a human, imperfect feel. It's these subtle details that make the painting feel so alive. Newman’s work sits in dialogue with painters like Malevich, but unlike him, Newman introduces an element of the sublime, a romantic, humanistic gesture in an era defined by cold war anxiety. It is a great example of how art is really an ongoing conversation, an open question rather than a closed statement.