February 1 - April 13, 2002
The Ralls Collection presents ‘A Suite of Prints’ by Ellsworth Kelly
Exhibit Marks East Coast Debut of Latest Work

Washington, D.C. (February 1, 2002) - From February 1 through April 13, 2002 The Ralls Collection will be exhibiting artist Ellsworth Kelly’s most recent suite of work.  The suite, produced at the legendary California print shop Gemini G.E.L., consists of ten lithographs including Purple/Red/Gray/Orange, the largest single paper lithograph ever made. Although Kelly’s work seems too abstracted to the point of being non-referential, it is built upon human surroundings, be they natural or man-made.

Kelly, an American master known for his striking minimalist canvases and geometric sculptures, was born in 1923 in New York.  After starting his formal study of art at the Pratt Institute, Kelly was drafted into the Army and spent the next several years in Europe, where he became enamored of the regions’ natural environment and its art and architecture. Upon his return to the U.S., Kelly continued his studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston until late 1948 when the G.I. Bill allowed to travel back to Paris and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Once again in Europe, Kelly’s fascination with painting, sculpture and architecture continued to flourish.  Of particular interest to him were the similarities and differences between the artistic forms and how they interacted with one another to form whole experiences.  Also of interest were the surrealist and neo-platonic movements, respectively contributing to the notion of ‘automatic drawing’ and the use of geometric shapes in his work. Art produced from these movements differed greatly than that which was being made at the same time in America, as Kelly discovered in 1954 when he returned to New York. Abstract Expressionism, the reigning movement, depended heavily upon the artist making his presence known on the canvas, like Pollock’s drips or Still’s paint-layered textures.  Instead, Kelly was removing the hand of the artist from his work, creating even toned and textured, cool, flat geometric canvases. Kelly has continued to work in this characteristic manner, even as the art world has shifted from movement to movement.  His latest suite of work again reflects his early foundations, as each print in the series consists of one solid color in an abstracted, geometric shape.