Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko was an American abstract painter known for large canvases of softly edged color fields and for the emotional impact of his paintings.
Painter
Barnett Newman
Barnett Newman was an American abstract painter known for vast, often monochromatic color fields interrupted by narrow vertical stripes he called zips.
Barnett Newman quick facts
Newman’s monumental Color Field paintings shaped Abstract Expressionism, contrasting with the visible gestures of Jackson Pollock’s action painting.
| Full name | Barnett Newman |
|---|---|
| Born | January 29, 1905 · New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | July 4, 1970 · New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Movements | Color Field Painting · Abstract Expressionism |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Acrylic paint · Magna synthetic-resin paint (distinct from ordinary waterborne acrylic) |
| Other media | Sculpture |
| Other materials | — |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas (including very large stretched supports) · Paper (rare 1948 oil paintings) |
| Painting methods | Vertical “zips” dividing broad color fields; oil over retained masking tape in Onement I; later acrylic and Magna applications |
| Common subjects | Nonrepresentational expanses of color and vertical bands, with titles suggesting the sublime, existence, and spiritual or human experience |
| Notable works | Onement I (1948) · Vir Heroicus Sublimis (1950–51) · The Stations of the Cross (1958–66) |
Sources: MoMA: Vir Heroicus Sublimis, MoMA: Onement I and the zip technique, National Gallery of Art: Barnett Newman, National Gallery of Art: Be II, National Gallery of Art: The Stations of the Cross, Smithsonian: Barnett Newman.
Paint types used by Barnett Newman
Newman used oil and later acrylic for his vertical zips, plus solvent-based Magna in some Stations of the Cross canvases, according to museum records.
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Oil paint
In Onement I (1948), Newman laid masking tape across a crimson oil-painted canvas, then spread orange oil paint over it with a palette knife. The retained tape defines the first of his signature “zips.” His much larger Vir Heroicus Sublimis (1950–51), also oil on canvas, sets narrow vertical bands within a broad red field.
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Acrylic paint and Magna
Newman used acrylic and oil together in Be II (1961–64), and the National Gallery of Art records Thirteenth Station (1965–66) as acrylic on canvas. A separate painting, Tenth Station (1965), uses Magna, a solvent-based acrylic-resin artist paint. The records distinguish these related but nonidentical materials.
Sources: MoMA: Onement I, oil over masking tape, MoMA: Vir Heroicus Sublimis, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art: Be II, acrylic and oil, National Gallery of Art: Thirteenth Station, acrylic, and National Gallery of Art: Tenth Station, Magna.
Painting surfaces used by Barnett Newman
Newman’s Color Field and Stations of the Cross paintings are recorded on canvas; the examples identify supports across his oil and acrylic works.
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Canvas
Museum records document Newman’s monumental color-field works on canvas, including MoMA’s Onement I and Vir Heroicus Sublimis, and the National Gallery of Art’s Stations of the Cross. These canvases support both narrow taped bands and broad fields of color. The examples show canvas across different phases of his practice.
Sources: MoMA: Vir Heroicus Sublimis, MoMA: Onement I and the zip technique, National Gallery of Art: Barnett Newman, National Gallery of Art: Be II, National Gallery of Art: The Stations of the Cross.
Painters similar to Barnett Newman
Newman shared an interest in immersive abstraction with Rothko, while Frankenthaler stained color directly into canvas using a distinct process.
Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler was a painter whose soak-stain technique let thinned paint enter raw canvas, changing postwar artists’ approach to the support.