Acrylic on shaped canvas, circa 1968-70. 480mm; 19-inches diameter (hexagonal). Signed in pencil, verso.
Provenance: private California collection.
This painting is a fine early example of Loving's painting from the late 1960s and early 1970s - shaped canvases with hard-edge, geometric shapes. Inspired by Hans Hofmann and Josef Albers, Detroit-born Loving earned an MFA from the University of Michigan in 1965. Four years later Loving enjoyed extraordinary success - a critically acclaimed, one-person exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Loving was the first of a group of African-American artists whose work was shown at the Whitney during the 1970s, including Frank Bowling, Frederick Eversley, Melvin Edwards and Alma Thomas - all, except Edwards, were abstract painters.
