The Name II 1950

Barnett Newman's "The Name II" is a minimalist painting from 1950, characterized by its vast expanse of white canvas interrupted by three vertical stripes. These thin, vertical lines, painted in a pale yellow-brown, evoke a sense of monumentality and scale, emphasizing the flatness of the picture plane and emphasizing the viewer's engagement with the canvas itself. This painting is a prime example of Newman's "zip" paintings, a style he developed in the late 1940s, which aimed to strip away all unnecessary elements and focus on the raw, essential qualities of painting.