ellsworth kelly
Post on 18-May-2015
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Ellsworth Kelly
Born 1923
American Minimalist Painter
As a young boy in New Jersey, Ellsworth’s
grandfather taught him to love bird watching.
He became interested in the artist John James Audubon who was famous for his
bird paintings.
Do you know what kind of bird this is?
Ellsworth noticed that most birds were only 2 or 3 colors.
How many colors do you see?
This is our state bird, the cardinal.
How many colors do you see?
As a young man he served in the military where he saw lots of camouflage.
These are paintings he created after leaving the army.
Colors for a Large Wall, 1951
Spectrum Colors Arranged by Chance II 1951
Spectrum Colors Arranged by Chance VI
(1951)
“I noticed that the large windows between the paintings in the
museum interested me more than the art. From then on, painting as I had known it was finished for me.”
--Ellsworth Kelly
Kelly said, "I decided what I didn't want in a painting, and just kept throwing things out - like
marks and lines."
This idea of using just a few colors or shapes to make art is called
minimalism.
He began making paintings that looked more like the windows than the art.
He was one of the first artists to make paintings that had unusual shapes.
Here are 2 more of his “shaped” paintings.
Do they remind you of birds?
Ellsworth painted many paintings that were only 2 or 3 colors.
Ellsworth Kelly lives in New York where he still creates art today.
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