Barnett Newman (1905-1970) is an important painter of the 20th century who stands along with Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock as one of the representative artists of the Abstract Expressionist movement that emerged in the U.S. after World War II. Having majored in philosophy at university, Newman was considered a theorist among the artists of the day and speculative in nature. At the age of 43 he arrived at a unique style of painting that involved canvases painted in monotone color surfaces with vertical lines called "zips" running down the picture plane. Although these works with their simple and clear arrangement of minimal compositional elements may appear cold and devoid of any human touch at first encounter, they actually have an under current of deep human emotions. At times awe-inspiring and at other times steeped in gentle warmth that envelops the viewer, Newman´s works pose questions about the fundamental meaning of art.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, we are proud to present the first solo exhibition of the work of Barnet Newman ever held in Japan, anchored by the artist´s late masterwork Anna´s Light from the Kawamura collection and a selection of 30 important works of painting, sculpture and print. These works offer the viewer an opportunity to encounter the products of an artistic career devoted to the sincere and single-minded quest of the meaning that painting can embody.

Highlights

1. A must-see exhibition offering lovers of 20th-century art a rare chance to see in Japan a selection of the preciously few Newman works

The desire to become an artist had consumed Newman since his youth, but it wasn´t until the last ten years of his life that the art world came to recognized him as one. In addition to being a late bloomer, Newman was also the type of artist who worked with slow deliberation. As a result, the total oeuvre he left is far from large.
The preciously few extant works of Newman are guarded lovingly by collectors and museums around the world today and seldom lent out. For this rare exhibition, however, we have managed to gather a choice selection of diverse works in acrylic, oils, crayon drawings, prints and a sculpture from domestic and overseas collections that span the artist´s career and provide an overview of the development of Newman´s art from his early to late periods.

2. Presenting works features in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Tate Moddern Newman retrospectives

In this exhibition visitors will see the same masterworks The Name I and Here I from the Daros Collection of Switzerland and the Kawamura´s own Anna´s Light, three works that were centerpieces of the large-scale Newman retrospective mounted at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the USA and the Tate Modern in the UK in 2002-03. Another major work displayed in that retrospective—although in a different edition from a different collection—that visitors to this exhibition will see is 18 Cantos, the only work of color lithographs Newman ever produced.

3. A masterpiece named for the artist's mother, Anna's Light

The Newman masterwork Anna´s Light in the collection of the Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art is the largest painting (274.3×609.6cm) the artist produced in his career. Standing before this canvas with its huge plane of cadmium red that seems to dye the surrounding light in its hue, the viewer can´t help but be overwhelmed by its presence. At the same time, however, many find themselves enveloped in feelings of peaceful repose, hope, love or fearsome awe.

Newman´s working method was to approach each canvas with a fresh mind and no prior scheme for how the new work should evolve. And the work´s title was given after its completion as a symbol of the feelings that emerged during the creative process. The title of this giant red painting takes the name of the artist´s mother Anna, who had passed away three years before the painting was created. With its minimal composition, this work may at first appear to be a pure product of reason, devoid of any human emotion, but in fact it is a very human creation harboring the depth of at painter´s intellect and emotions.

4. Two Newman interview and documentary television programs showing

Showing in one room of the exhibition will be two television programs on Newman filmed during his life. One is an interview with the poet Frank O´Hara and the other is a documentary on the artist with scenes of Newman at work on the undercoating of a painting. Both are rare and important documents on the artist that were broadcast on American television during the 1960s. (These screenings are supported by WNET. ORG)