Page from Sketchbook #78, 14 Stations of the Cross
Ellsworth Kelly
American, 1923–2015
1989
A pencil drawing on a spiral-bound sketchbook page in which Ellsworth Kelly lightly maps an off-center two-part composition—marking proportions and labeling areas “white” and “black”—as a study for his Stations of the Cross.
You first notice a spare rectangle annotated with measured arrows and numbers, a single slightly diagonal dividing line, and faint handwritten labels and notebook spiral, a study of precise proportion rendered with almost ceremonial restraint.
This page makes visible Kelly’s process of reducing sacred subjects to elemental shape, proportion, and color, showing how his minimalist vocabulary reframed spiritual themes in late-20th-century art.
Medium
Page from a spiral-bound sketchbook with pencil on paper
Dimensions
page: 12 × 18" (30.5 × 45.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Jack Shear
Accession
359.2020.7
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
