Untitled
The natural landscapes of the Mediterranean (Adnan’s birthplace) and Northern California (where she has spent much of her life) have long inspired the artist’s practice. A polyglot and celebrated writer, Adnan has described her paintings as alternatives to language-based expression, emphasizing the inclusivity and open-endedness of abstraction: "I didn’t need to use words, but colors and lines. I didn’t need to belong to a language-oriented culture but to an open form of expression." In works such as this one, colors and shapes become metaphysical entities in their own right, in the way that, according to Adnan, "the attributes of God exist as metaphysical entities."
Artwork Details
- Title: Untitled
- Artist: Etel Adnan (Lebanese, born Beirut 1925–2021 Paris, France)
- Date: 2016
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 13 3/4 × 17 3/4 in. (34.9 × 45.1 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Gift of Stefano Baia Curioni and Margherita Zambon, 2017
- Object Number: 2017.323
- Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Etel Adnan
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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