Whirl is typical of the artist's paintings of 1958-1960. They are characterized by concentric rings of color centered in a square format and stained onto an unprimed canvas. The stain technique results in a surface which completely integrates color with ground; rather than the color resting on the canvas, it is in the canvas. The early targets are characterized by an outer ring of free, loose edges which energize and activate the image to create a sense of movement. Since 1960 the element of movement has been subdued in the artist's wiork.
Born in 1924 in Asheville, North Carolina, Noland received his formal training at nearby Black Mountain College, then in Paris. His first one-man exhibition was held in Paris in 1948. After returning to the U.S., he settled in Washington, D.C. where he taught at the Institute of Contemporary Art, at Catholic University and at the Washington Workshop of the Arts.
Source: Bulletin, March-April 1975.
Exhibition History"Kenneth Noland: The Concentric Circle Paintings 1956-1963," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, Nov. 14, 1993 - Jan. 9, 1994, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Mar. 31 - May 15, 1994
"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 7, 1991 - Feb. 23, 1992
"Kenneth Noland: A Retrospective," Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, N.Y., Apr. 15 - July 5, 1977; (Circulated to: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., Sept. 29 - Nov. 27, 1977; Toledo Museum of Art, Jan. 22 - Mar. 5, 1978)
"Kenneth Noland Exhibition,"Galerie Neufville, Paris, 1961
Published ReferencesJohn Ashberry, "Paris Notes," ART INTERNATIONAL, vol. 5-6, 1961, pp.42 & 92-94, ill. p.92
Barbara Rose, "Kenneth Noland," ART INTERNATIONAL, vol. VIII 5-6, 1964, pp.58-61, ill. p.59
Ken Carpenter, "To Re-examine the Work of Kenneth Noland," STUDIO INTERNATIONAL, vol.187, no.968, July/Aug. 1974, pp.21-26, color ill. p.24
DMAC Bulletin, Mar./Apr. 1975, cover ill.
DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER, Oct. 10, 1976, ill.
MODERN ART IN FOCUS, Toledo Modern Art Group's Calendar of Events, Sept. 25, 1977 - May 17, 1978, b/w ills. on cover and inside in heading, The painting is mentioned on the second page of TMAG News(a newsletter to members)
TIME MAGAZINE, May 2, 1977, color ill. p.69 (ill. upside-down
Gene Davis, "Starting Out In the 50's," ART IN AMERICA, July/Aug. 1978, color ill. p.94
NATHAN EMORY COFFIN COLLECTION, a portfolio of fifty works from the collection published by the Des Moines Art Center to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Nathan Emory Coffin, 1981, b/w ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.164, color ill. pl.XX, p.116
Daniel Wheeler, MODERN ART SINCE MID-CENTURY, The Vendome Press, N. Y., 1988, color ill.
Karen Wilkin, "Kenneth Noland," Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., N. Y., 1990, color ill. p.34
William C. Agee, "Kenneth Noland, The Circle Paintings, 1956-1963," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1993, color ill. p.83, pl.18
Robert Hughes, AMERICAN VISIONS: THE EPIC HISTORY OF ART IN AMERICA, Alfred A. Knopf, N. Y., 1997, fig.321, p.547
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.210, color ill. p.211
John J. Curley, "Pure Art, Pure Science: The Politics of Serial Drawing in the 1960s",
essay in exhibition catalogue "Infinite Possibilities: Serial Imagery in 20th Century in 20th-Century Drawing", Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, 2004, color image pg. 28
"Action/Abstraction: Pollock, De Kooning, and American Art 1940-1976", edited by Norman L. Kleebatt, The Jewish Museum , New York, and Yale University Press, 2008, color ill. pg.94
Canvas (/image): 70 13/16 × 69 3/4 in. (179.9 × 177.2 cm)
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