BN: The Paintings in Scale (Blue)
David Diao
American, born 1943
1991
A large acrylic and vinyl painting that translates Barnett Newman’s paintings into a measured field of blue geometric blocks, turning an artist’s catalogue into a visual diagram about scale and legacy.
A deep, textured navy field is punctuated across its wide surface by tidy, lighter-blue rectangles and a single triangle—each small shape read like a plotted marker (with tiny year labels), so the eye moves between pattern, rhythm, and implied chronology.
By treating Newman’s oeuvre as visual data, Diao links Minimalist form to conceptual mapping and postmodern art-historical critique, asking how scale, cataloguing, and reputation shape what we call a masterpiece.
Medium
Acrylic and vinyl paint on canvas
Dimensions
6' 6" × 11' (198.1 × 335.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds
Accession
131.2024
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
