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Lithograph #13

1961
Not on view
Dorazio praised abstraction as a universal language, one that could provide a purely optical experience. Central to his art was the role of color. Rather than assign it symbolic values, he believed that "color possesses a natural autonomy." His work, as such, reflected his goal to expand upon its expressive possibilities. During the period in which this print was made, Dorazio focused on the interaction of colored lines with each other and with the negative space of the pictorial surface—as seen here in the relationships both among the blue lines and between them and the white from the paper support. His art was more than a formal exercise, however, as the artist sought to explore color’s effect on visual perception as well as its ability to impact viewers’ "frames of mind, attitudes, and awareness."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lithograph #13
  • Artist: Piero Dorazio (Italian, Rome 1927–2005 Perugia)
  • Date: 1961
  • Medium: Lithograph
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 27 3/8 × 20 7/8 in. (69.5 × 53 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Thomas M. Folds, 1966
  • Object Number: 66.752
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Untitled, Piero Dorazio Italian, Color aquatint
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Piero Dorazio
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Untitled, Piero Dorazio Italian, Aquatint
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Piero Dorazio
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