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Despite the monumental scale of some of Newman's
paintings, he never intended them to be seen from far off,
like a mural or fresco in a public building. Instead he wanted
the viewer to come in close before the works, entering into
a direct physical and psychological encounter. Experienced
at first hand they make us acutely aware of ourselves, or
as Newman put it, 'The onlooker in front of my paintings knows
that he's there.'
Uriel, named after the archangel of
light, is the last and largest of a group of paintings from
1953-54 that feature shades of pale greenish turquoise. While
the vast turquoise expanse enfolds the viewer in its field,
the black and white bands and area of burnt sienna provide
a kind of visual anchor or ground.
The Third, a slab of intense orange,
is one of several paintings Newman made with titles relating
to the number three. (In Jewish mystical tradition three is
the designation for God.) The surface of the canvas reveals
subtle variations in Newman's methods. He used masking tape
to help him delineate the zips in his work. Sometimes he let
the colours bleed under the tape, producing wavering edges,
at other times he would ensure that the tape was firmly fixed,
in order to create a sharp boundary. The two yellow zips in
The Third demonstrate both approaches, eroded and
softened on the right, and firmly defined on the left.
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