Barnett Newman

Private Collection
Sotheby's, New York, May 5, 1996, Lot 1178
Private Collection, South Korea
Private Collection, New York

Richard Shiff, Carol C. Mancusi-Ungaro and Heidi Colsman-Freyberger, Barnett Newman Foundation, New Haven and London, 2004, cat. no. BNF 205-26, pp. 455-474, another example illustrated in color
Gabriele Schor, The Prints of Barnett Newman 1961-1969, Stuttgart, 1996, pp. 46-87, another example illustrated in color

The colors are very fresh and the sheets are in good condition. Any minor imperfections found in the individual plates are as follows: Canto I There is discoloration along the left deckle. Occasional unobtrusive fox marks are visible. Canto II There is some very faint discoloration along the sheet edges and tiny, pale fox marks are visible in the margins upon very close inspection. Canto IV The paper tone at the upper and lower sheet edges has darkened. Canto V There are fox marks in the margins, primarily at bottom. Canto VI There are tiny specks of foxing visible in the margins upon very close inspection. Canto VII There is pale discoloration along the left deckle and a fox mark is visible in the right margin. Canto IX The sheet edges have darkened very slightly. There are two inconspicuous fingerprints in the black, visible only under raking light. Canto XVIII There are very faint traces of discoloration along the sheet edges
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"COLOR IS KNOWLEDGE" Donald Judd

"I have been captivated by the things that happen in playing this litho instrument, the choices that develop when changing a color or the paper size. I have 'played' hoping to evoke every possible instrumental lick.... It is like a piano or an orchestra; and as with an instrument, it interprets.  And as in all the interpretive arts, so in lithography, creation is joined with the 'playing'—in this case not of bow and string but of stone and press." Barnett Newman

Barnett Newman's complete portfolio of 18 Cantos is an extraordinary example of contemporary lithography.  It is the artist's fourth endeavor in the medium and his first utilizing color. The present work is Newman's seminal achievement in printmaking; each individual sheet possesses a symphonic structure wherein the deliberate layering of the lithographic stones yields magnificent variations in tone. 

The portfolio both begins and ends with tones of red, the title page echoed by the coda of the final Canto.  The colors were not mixed but rather applied in pure form, one on top of another and the individual works can be grouped into four sequences. Moving from soft white and dramatic blacks, to a building crescendo of blues, then yellow-greens, finishing in vibrant reds, with zips or bands within further enlivening the arrangements. Canto X through Canto XIII, referred to by the artist as "The Four Seasons," underscore the artist's relation of the prints to music: just as keys on an instrument added together form a chord, the yellow stones printed over the blue stones blend to create the varying green tones.  It is also within these four prints that the experimentation of different inks (Deep Cadmium Yellow, Jaune Primavère, and Ultramarine Blue) printed from the same stones, yielded dramatically different results. Such subtle alterations on a theme are often present in a musical score where a consistent melody is enhanced by the arrangement of the accompanying notes.

 The luminous surfaces and subtle harmonies within Newman's Cantos have become icons of 20^th Century printmaking and an integral part of the artist's stunning accomplishments in fusing color and line.  Of the edition of eighteen, two sets have been dispersed and at least eleven complete copies are in public collections: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Tate, London; Kupferstichkabinett, Kunstmuseum Basel; Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart and Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.