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This is a preliminary study for an emulsion painting. Riley is the best known of the English "Op" artists. She inscribed a message to herself at the right: "Rework centre square sharpening angles of movement to area limits." As one studies the black and white drawing, it becomes apparent that it is made up of black and white triangles, the proportions of which shift so as to create an allusion that the paper is not flat.

Source: Bulletin, January-February, 1978.


Exhibition History"MCM - Y2K: A CENTURY OF ART ON PAPER," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 11, 1999 - Feb. 13, 2000

"Styles of the Times: The 1960s," Des Moines Art Center, May 1 - June 28, 1998

"Diversity of Line: A Selection from the Permanent Collection," Des Moines Art Center, Nov. 16, 1990 - Apr. 7, 1991
Published ReferencesGallery Guide for "Diversity of Line," Des Moines Art Center, Nov. 1990

DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. pp.181 & 182, b/w ill. pl.117, p.181

Maurice de Sausmarez, BRIDGET RILEY, New York Graphic Society Ltd., Greenwich, CT, 1970, b/w ill. no.41, p.66

"MCM - Y2K: A CENTURY OF ART ON PAPER," Des Moines Art Center, 1999, exh. cat. ref. pp.18 & 27

DMAC Bulletin, Jan./Feb. 1978, cover ill.

DimensionsSheet: 22 × 29 7/8 in. (55.9 × 75.9 cm)
Image: 16 × 15 9/16 in. (40.6 × 39.5 cm)
Accession Number 1977.29
Classificationswork on paper
InscriptionsStudy for Shift '63 (l/r) Bridget Riley (l/r) Rework centre square sharpening angles of movement to area limits (l/r)
ProvenanceArtist; (Feigen Gallery, New York); (Feigen/Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles); John and Mary Pappajohn, Des Moines [purchased from the previous, late 1975-early 1976]; Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 1977]
Study for "Shift"
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Middaugh
1965
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Ralston Crawford
1937
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Ella Bergmann-Michel
ca. 1924
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Hedda Sterne
1950
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Dorothea Rockburne
1978
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Leonardo da Iowa Lasansky
ca. 1967
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
James Lechay
date unknown
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
George Grosz
date unknown