{"data":{"id":"943","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":943,"topgoose_id":1245,"tms_id":943,"display_name":"Barnett Newman","sort_name":"Newman Barnett","display_date":"1905–1970","begin_date":"1905","end_date":"1970","biography":"\u003cp\u003eIn the aftermath of World War II, Barnett\nNewman realized that contemporary\npainting could not adequately respond\nto the devastation of the Holocaust\nor the fear of nuclear weapons. Believing\nthat art faced a “moral crisis” and that\nas a painter he could no longer condone\nrepresentational imagery, he argued\nagainst the kind of painting that previously\n“was trying to make the world look\nbeautiful.” Concluding in the late 1940s\nthat “the old stuff was . . . no longer\nmeaningful,” he rejected looking to the\npast for inspiration and decided to “start\nfrom scratch as if painting didn’t exist.”\nHis solution was to paint radically reduced,\nabstract compositions featuring large\nexpanses of color.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title of \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/163\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eDay One\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e signals a\npoint of departure for painting and for\na new world. Newman covered the\ncanvas with a vast red field bordered by\ntwo thin vertical bands. He called these\nsignature lines “zips,” painting them\nfreehand or with the help of masking tape.\nAt close range—the distance from\nwhich the artist intended his viewers to\nobserve his large works—the painting\nextends beyond the typical field of\nvision. Yet by invoking the shared human\nability to imagine more than sight\napprehends, Newman posits a metaphor\nfor the creative process. He believed\nthat his abstractions communicated a set\nof moral values because they offered\nan “assertion of freedom” and a\n“denial of dogmatic principles.” Ultimately,\n\u003cem\u003eDay One\u003c/em\u003e professes a new beginning,\nand the hope that humanity might move\nforward into a better era.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":true,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500000960","wikidata_id":"Q374504","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:15:18.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:01:33.364-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/943/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/943/exhibitions"}}}}