The audio tour for John Chamberlain: Choices shares perspectives on select key works from the exhibition.
www.guggenheim.org/chamberlain

Exhibition Website

John Chamberlain's Involvement with Abstract Expressionism

Access a slow-looking exercise of this work.

Transcript
Narrator: Created by Albert Gleizes in 1942, "Painting for Contemplation, Dominant Rose and Green" is a larger-than-life abstract rectangular painting about 7 feet tall by almost 4 1/2 feet wide. It is made of oil on burlap. As alluded to by the painting’s title, various hues of rose and green dominate its color palate. Its composition is roughly divided into quadrants of color. Clockwise from the upper left, colors transition from sea green to moss, to rosy pink, to periwinkle blue. At the center sits a roughly defined segment of pale pink.  

The overall composition is fragmented into various geometric shapes: straight-edged polygons appear near the edges, and toward the middle there are circular and oval forms and triangles with curved sides. The forms vary in their shades of color, from light pastels to deep mid-tones. The shapes often seem to overlap and intersect, especially where the quadrants meet and neighboring colors touch. 

A black dot, centered in the middle of the composition, stands out against the rest of the work’s muted colors. Moving outward, subtle circular outlines radiate from the dot toward the edges of the canvas, each subsequent outline morphing into long ovals that eventually end in a tall, rounded rectangle, mirroring the shape of the canvas itself. A subtle gray-blue dot sits to the upper right of the central black dot. Circles radiate outward here as well, soon intersecting and then merging into one unified set of radiating outlines. Color also adds to this sense of outward expansion, as the dark outer quadrants seem to recede from the foregrounded light pink center.  

The composition contains a diagonal sense of movement as well. The edges of some fragmented shapes align with their neighbor’s to form an impression of continuous lines that proceed from bottom left to upper right across the artwork. Throughout the painting, clusters of four to seven short parallel lines follow this same diagonal direction.  

While the composition is abstract, its forms, colors, and sense of movement suggest representational subjects. The composition’s blue base and upper green sections could reference the natural world—water and foliage. And its pink tones could allude to flesh. The central dots and their radiating outlines reference two abstracted human figures in an embrace— a gently curved line at bottom right indicating a cradled arm, ending with a cluster of short parallel lines for a hand and fingers. 

Gleizes, a Catholic, was committed to Christianity, leading him to produce spiritually inspired work. "Painting for Contemplation" may reference the spiritual act of contemplation in front of an altar or shrine, here featuring a depiction of the Madonna and child.

Orphism - Verbal Descriptions

Description of Painting for Contemplation, Dominant Rose and Green, 1942

As part of the Guggenheim Museum’s Summer of Know series, artist Ad Minoliti and activist Adam Werner discussed social and artistic responsibility, and building community on digital platforms, with moderation by X Zhu-Nowell, Assistant Curator at the Guggenheim Museum.

Photo: Ed Marshall

Archivo de la Memoria Trans
https://archivodelamemoriatrans.tumblr.com/

Queer Ancestors Project
https://www.queerancestorsproject.org/

The Feminist School of Painting
http://fschool.kadist.org/

Cromoactivismo
https://www.facebook.com/Cromoactivismo-1430319627007557/

Campaña Nacional por el Derecho al Aborto Legal Seguro y Gratuito
http://www.abortolegal.com.ar/

Summer of Know

Conversation: Ad Minoliti and Adam Werner (2019)

Listen to audio about exhibitions and artworks at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Frank Lloyd Wright's landmark building is home to a collection of modern and contemporary masterpieces.

Description of Painting for Contemplation, Dominant Rose and Green, 1942

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

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