Abstract, 1947

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Abstract, 1947

Artist Carl Robert Holty (American, 1900-1973)

Date1947

DimensionsPainting: 51 × 42 in. (129.5 × 106.7 cm)
Frame: 58 1/4 × 49 × 2 1/4 in. (148 × 124.5 × 5.7 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineGift of the Woodward Foundation, by exchange

Object number

2005.107

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 05

Label Text“In breaking up the shapes or forms, it is imperative not to attempt to rejoin them because that leads to transformation only. By breaking them and keeping them broken, the forms, large and small, are simply densities in the rhythmic movement of color and shapes.” — Carl Robert Holty Carl Holty was a founding member of the pioneering American Abstract Artists (AAA) group in 1936, which laid the foundation for the Abstract Expressionists and the dominance of American gestural painting of a generation later. After studying with famed and influential teacher Hans Hoffman, Holty dedicated himself to exploring the multifaceted possibilities of abstraction with color as a foundational tool. The artist also spent some time in Paris, encountering styles such as Cubism, which is evident in his early works from the 1930s. Holty utilized geometric shapes and biomorphic forms (forms that are irregular and seemingly based on living organisms), but by the 1940s, his painting style began to loosen. It became freer, more fragmented, and rhythmic, though still maintaining a vibrant palette, as seen in Abstract, 1947.