{"data":{"id":"17193","type":"artwork","attributes":{"id":17193,"topgoose_id":10910,"portfolio_id":null,"tms_id":17193,"title":"La Combe I","display_artist_text":"Ellsworth Kelly","display_date":"1950","accession_number":"2002.249","dimensions":"Overall: 38 × 63 11/16 in. (96.5 × 161.8 cm)","medium":"Oil on canvas","department":"collection","classification":"Paintings","credit_line":"Gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President","is_virtual":false,"is_portfolio":false,"portfolio_tms_id":null,"portfolio":null,"edition":null,"publication_info":"","description":"\u003cp\u003eEllsworth Kelly, \u003cem\u003eLa Combe I\u003c/em\u003e, 1950. Oil on canvas, overall: 38 × 63 11/16 in. (96.5 × 161.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of The American Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc., Leonard A. Lauder, President 2002.249. © Ellsworth Kelly\u003c/p\u003e","object_label":"\u003cp\u003eWhile staying with friends at the Villa La Combe in Meschers, France, in the summer of 1950, Ellsworth Kelly closely observed a flight of stairs and the complex shadows cast upon it by the balustrade. He photographed the stairs and made numerous sketches, recording the shadows throughout the day as the position of the sun changed. These photographs and sketches became the basis of a series of works titled \u003ci\u003eLa Combe\u003c/i\u003e. Here, the nine-part structure of the composition evokes the architecture of the stairs, specifically its nine steps. Kelly has turned the flight of stairs on its side and made each white “stair” section in \u003ci\u003eLa Combe I \u003c/i\u003eof equal width to eliminate any sense of mass and volume. The disjunctive arrangement of red lines both implies the shadows on the steps and stands as an autonomous abstract form―without the artist’s explanation, we could not identify the source of the image.\u003c/p\u003e","ai_alt_text":"White background with repeated red angled stripes forming broken chevron and arrow-like patterns.","alt_text":null,"visual_description":null,"on_view":false,"created_at":"2017-08-30T16:38:24.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-02-06T12:00:34.054-05:00","images":[{"id":104633,"url":"https://whitneymedia.org/assets/artwork/17193/2002_249_cropped.jpg"}]},"relationships":{"artists":{"data":[{"id":"688","type":"artist"}]}}}}