Blue Diamond

Inscriptions

Initialed and dated, in light blue paint, lower left: h.b. 72; inscribed, on reverse, in black marker, in center, oriented vertically: Blue Diamond. [underscored] 1972. / Acyrlyc [sic] on masonite. / Hannes Beckmann

Label

Op art is a kind of expression of what is going on also in the world of science. It runs parallel to what is going on in the world of mathematics, in physics. That things are not absolute. --Hannes Beckmann

Beckmann focused on people’s optical responses (hence, Op Art) to visual stimuli. He considered the viewers’ eyes (the actual human organs) as the key to completing his paintings, and he designed his work to instigate retinal responses to color and pattern. Beckmann worked out formulas for his art in a manner consistent with the goals of his colleague Josef Albers. In Blue Diamond, we can see that he created his concentric squares with a mix of the two dominant colors—black and blue—in even gradients.

From the 2023 exhibition The Painter's Hand: U.S. Abstraction since 1950, curated by John Stomberg, Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director

Course History

WRIT 5, Expository Writing, William Craig, Winter 2014

Studio Art 25.01, Painting I, Daniele Genadry, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023

First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Francine A'Ness, Summer 2023

Studio Art 15.04, Drawing I, Enrico Riley, Fall 2023

Studio Art 17.08, Digital Drawing, Karol Kawiaka, Fall 2023

Studio Art 25.01, Painting I, Jen Caine, Fall 2023

Writing 5.05, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Fall 2023

Writing 5.06, Image and Text, Becky Clark, Fall 2023

Exhibition History

In Residence: Contemporary Art at Dartmouth, Friends and Owen Robertson Cheatham Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 18-July 6, 2014.

The Painter's Hand: U.S. Abstraction since 1950, William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Jaffe-Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 3-December 16, 2023.

Publication History

Michael R. Taylor and Gerald Auten, In Residence: Contemporary Artists at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2013, ill. p. 54 , no. 37

Provenance

The artist (1909-1977), Hanover, New Hampshire; sold to Erich (1925-2004) and Ann Boeckler, Albany, New York, 1972; Ann Boeckler, Port St. Lucie, Florida; given to present collection, 2008.

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Subjects