Label Text
In the late 1950s and early 60s, Hard-Edge painting became an important link between Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism, rejecting Abstract Expressionism’s expressive gestures and thick painting but retaining its allover approach with no fore- or background, qualities that would prove influential to Minimalism. Kelly was one of the leaders of this movement, creating work that explored interactions of shape and color. In Yellow Blue, the bright primary colors seem to compete for space within the rectangular frame, just as the rounded shape seems to be expanding across the canvas. The sharp lines that separate colors and Kelly’s use of geometric shapes anticipate the exacting nature of Minimalism.
Exhibition History"Commitment, Community and Controversy: The Des Moines Art Center Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Jan. 24 - May 10, 1998
"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 7, 1991 - Feb. 23, 1992
"American Art - Third Quarter Century," Seattle Art Museum, WA, Aug. 22 - Oct. 14, 1973
"Twenty-five Years of American Painting: 1948-1973," Des Moines Art Center, Mar. 6 - Apr. 22, 1973
Published ReferencesLaraine E. Flemming, READING FOR RESULTS, 2nd Ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1983, color cover ill.
Dore Ashton, AMERICAN ART SINCE 1945, Oxford University Press, N. Y., 1982, color ill. no.55, p.87
Max Kozloff, ARTFORUM, May 1973, color ill. p.50
THE ART QUARTERLY, Vol. XXXV, No. 1, repro. p. 92
John Coplans, ELLSWORTH KELLY, Abrams, N. Y., 1973, color ill. pl. no.162
THE NATHAN EMORY COFFIN COLLECTION, a portfolio of fifty selections 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.
"American Art - Third Quarter Century," Seattle Art Museum, Washington, 1973, exh. cat. no.31, color ill. p.65
Max Kozloff, intro., "Twenty-five Years of American Painting: 1948 - 1973," Des Moines Art Center, 1973, exh. cat. no.17, color ill. pl. no.17
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.153, color ill. p.152
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.91, color ill. pl.XV, p.111
DES MOINES REGISTER, Dec. 24, 1971, ill. p.16
DMAC Bulletin, May/June 1972, cover ill.
Exhibition History"Commitment, Community and Controversy: The Des Moines Art Center Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Jan. 24 - May 10, 1998
"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 7, 1991 - Feb. 23, 1992
"American Art - Third Quarter Century," Seattle Art Museum, WA, Aug. 22 - Oct. 14, 1973
"Twenty-five Years of American Painting: 1948-1973," Des Moines Art Center, Mar. 6 - Apr. 22, 1973
Published ReferencesLaraine E. Flemming, READING FOR RESULTS, 2nd Ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1983, color cover ill.
Dore Ashton, AMERICAN ART SINCE 1945, Oxford University Press, N. Y., 1982, color ill. no.55, p.87
Max Kozloff, ARTFORUM, May 1973, color ill. p.50
THE ART QUARTERLY, Vol. XXXV, No. 1, repro. p. 92
John Coplans, ELLSWORTH KELLY, Abrams, N. Y., 1973, color ill. pl. no.162
THE NATHAN EMORY COFFIN COLLECTION, a portfolio of fifty selections 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.
"American Art - Third Quarter Century," Seattle Art Museum, Washington, 1973, exh. cat. no.31, color ill. p.65
Max Kozloff, intro., "Twenty-five Years of American Painting: 1948 - 1973," Des Moines Art Center, 1973, exh. cat. no.17, color ill. pl. no.17
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.153, color ill. p.152
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. p.91, color ill. pl.XV, p.111
DES MOINES REGISTER, Dec. 24, 1971, ill. p.16
DMAC Bulletin, May/June 1972, cover ill.
DimensionsCanvas (/image): 90 × 65 in. (228.6 × 165.1 cm)
Accession Number 1971.17
Classificationspainting
Copyright© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation
SignedEK 63 (verso u,r)
Ellsworth Kelly 1963 (verso u,r on stretcher)
Inscriptions#311 (verso u,l on stretcher)
ProvenanceArtist; (Betty Parsons Gallery, New York); Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles [purchased from the previous, 1963]; Edwin Janss, Jr., Los Angeles [purchased from the previous, 1964]; Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 1971]
Collections
Images (1)
Audio (1)
Audio Transcript
Ellsworth Kelly (American, 1923 - 2015)
Yellow Blue, 1963
Run Time: 1 minute 22seconds
Recorded by Ben Millett / July 6, 2025
Yellow Blue was created by Ellsworth Kelly in the years when he kept both form and ground on the canvas, before he would move the ground to the wall that the canvas, now only the form, was displayed upon. Yet you can see that interest in form and ground in Yellow Blue. I'm struck by the composition, the balance of the two colors, the weight each color has. Paraphrasing Ellsworth, he's explained that he doesn't compose but transcribes shapes he sees. Whatever the source was for the shape in Yellow Blue, we're confronted by a yellow curve that seems to be expanding within the fixed boundary of a blue rectangle and is just about to meet the right edge. Or is it deflating? And we caught the scene a moment after freeing itself from the edge. For me, the tension of the yellow and blue meeting at the right edge and at the lower left corner within the confines of the canvas is heightened by the scale of the painting. When I look at a photograph of the painting, I sense that tension, but I feel it most when I'm dwarfed by the painting in person. With paint strokes barely visible, I'm left to focus on the color and shapes and find balance with that tension. I marvel at the power Ellsworth Kelly can yield using one or two colors and a single shape.
