Blue Prescence, 1970. Richard Pousette-Dart (1916–1992). Oil on board, 24 x 24 in. New Britain Museum of American Art, General Purchase Fund, 1971.25.
With no formal artistic training, Richard Pousette-Dart borrowed from the early efforts of the Abstract Expressionists during the 1940s and soon developed a painting technique that focused on the artist’s direct experience with materials and discouraged the use of preparatory sketches. The artist incorporated substances, such as sand, razor blades, and sandpaper, to alter the surface texture of his works and create visual radiance. A focus on the complexities of paint surfaces and a highly developed sense of color harmonies are hallmarks of his style. In Blue Presence the artist uses a Pointillist method of applying small dabs of color to interplay textures and light-generating color fields. The dominant circular image appears to be radiating outward as if it were a cosmic event while particles of paint decrease slightly in size toward the center of the canvas. (more…)
