Art: Black Works

Would you hang an all black art work in your home (or fantasy museum)? What if we said it was a work by Robert Motherwell, Louise Nevelson, Kara Walker, Richard Serra, or Robert Mapplethorpe?

Reconciliation Elegy, 1978, Robert Motherwell (at the National Gallery, Washington DC)

Sky Cathedral, 1958, Louise Nevelson (at the MoMA)

Kara Walker, 2008 (from an installation at the Whitney)

Untitled, 1973, Richard Serra (from the Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum, 2011)

Parrot Tulips, 1988, Robert Mapplethorpe

Images courtesy of Spencer Alley, Art in the Studio, June Joon Jaxx, The New Yorker and Me, Christie’s.

Dear Readers: Do not adjust your computer screens. Troy is taking over White Cabana this week and, as you can see, he’s really shaken things up around here! Enjoy. – Jordana

3 Comments

  1. marinachetner November 29, 2011

    I do love the silhouettes (Kara Walker). Their influence has been around for a while (as I noticed on the etsy website) and I think that this type of removable art can really be effective in a large, simple space. i do love the last image also!

    Reply
    • Jordana November 29, 2011

      The silhouettes remind me of a) shadow puppets from childhood and b) handicraft in Switzerland. I do have some inkblots above my sofa which are black & white. I can definitely do black and white art, but a full black painting, photo, or sculpture (like Mapplethorpe’s flowers)…I just can’t see it in my living space.
      Jordana

      Reply
  2. richardsguest November 29, 2011

    I would love the Mapplethorpe, Motherwell or Walker, but fear I would have to build a new house to do them justice.

    Reply

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