Toora

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Artist/Maker Jules Olitski (American, 1922 - 2007)

Publisher Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia

Date1986

MediumScreenprint

DimensionsSheet: 22 3/8 × 30 1/16 in. (56.8 × 76.4 cm) Frame: 26 3/4 × 34 1/4 × 2 in. (67.9 × 87 × 5.1 cm)

Credit LineGift of Philip W. Abell, Class of 1957, and Paul Abell, Class of 1957, in memory of their parents

Object number1989.26

Not on view

DescriptionJules Olitski, a second-generation Abstract Expressionist, emigrated from the Ukraine to the United States as an infant and grew up in Brooklyn. He attended art courses at the National Academy of Design in New York and in Paris after World War II, returning to New York to earn a bachelor’s degree in 1952, followed quickly by a master’s in art education, both from New York University. Toora is representative of Olitski’s mature painting style, which he attained in 1965. He began creating decentralized paintings with unified, flat surfaces through staining and other techniques and with more gestural, articulated passages around the edges, which he called “the final realization of the color structure.” Throughout his practice, he explored color and tonal variety. “Paint becomes painting when color establishes surface,” he explained. Olitski was particularly known for his use of an industrial spray gun to apply paint to canvas. He completed his first screenprints in 1970, and although he had become more interested in surface texture in his paintings of the late 1980s, his spray technique is nonetheless seen to great effect in this print of 1986. Toora was published in an edition of 125 to benefit the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania; the College received its print in 1989 from the brothers Paul and Philip W. Abell, both Class of 1957. (SOURCE: Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS, 2017)

Collections

American Art

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2017
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). "Innovative Approaches, Honored Traditions: The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Five Years, Highlights from the Permanent Collection," September 9 - December 10, 2017 (cat. no. 111, illus.);

1994
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). “A Discerning Eye: Philip W. Abell (1935-1993) A Memorial Exhibition,” September 23 - November 6, 1994 (brochure);

1993
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Robert Rauschenberg and His Contemporaries: Works from the Collections of Martina Hamilton and Hamilton College," September 17 - October 31, 1993;

1992
Clinton, NY (Fred L. Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College). "Highlights from the Hamilton College Collection," June 5 - September 6, 1992 (cat. no 167).

Provenance 1989: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by gift of Philip W. and Paul Abell.

Published References Katherine D. Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS: THE RUTH AND ELMER WELLIN MUSEUM OF ART AT FIVE YEARS, HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION (Clinton, NY: Wellin Museum of Art, 2017), p. 244;

A DISCERNING EYE: PHILIP W. ABELL (1935-1993) A MEMORIAL EXHIBITION (brochure, Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, September 23- November 6, 1994);

FRIENDS OF ART NEWSLETTER (Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, vol. 1, no. 3, April 1990, "Acquisitions");

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HAMILTON COLLEGE COLLECTION (exh. cat., Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, June 5 – September 6, 1992, cat. no.167).

Signature Signed and dated "Jules Olitski 1986" at lower right in pencil.

Inscribed "Toora" at lower center in pencil; "A/P XIII/XXV" at lower left in pencil.