NORMAN LEWIS (1909 - 1979) Untitled (Circle Composition).
Oil on wove paper, 1964. 660x1016 mm; 26x40 inches. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right.
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, New York.
This circular shape floating in an atmospheric field is a striking composition by Norman Lewis. While many of his abstract compositions are made from curves, spheres and circles in the 1960s, the beautiful minimalism of this halo-like form makes this work on paper exceptional. We have found only one similar work - included in the traveling museum retrospective, Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis is a similar 1964 oil and pastel work on paper, Untitled, in a smaller, vertical composition - see plate 60.
This paper size is the largest format the artist used for works on paper. It also has the printed Inkweed Arts illustrations on the verso - found on many Lewis works on paper from the 1960s. Fine p. 115.
