Ellsworth Kelly (b. 1923) is one of the masters of American minimalism.

He is collected internationally and renowned for his signature hypnotic shapes realized in single colors. 

Like many artists who had served in the US military during WWII, Kelly took advantage of the G.I. Bill and moved to Paris in the late 1940s only to return to the US in 1954.

Kelly was one of the first artists, along with Frank Stella, to use oddly shaped canvases and contributed to the nascent genre of Minimalism. 

Similar to Stella, Kelly began to explore printmaking in the late 1960s and it became an essential part of his practice. 

This iconic lithograph was commissioned by Vera List in support of the newly built Lincoln Center in New York. Kelly was selected to contribute to the List Art Poster Program along with a handful of iconic artists such as Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol.

In this work, Kelly lends his minimalist aesthetic to promote the cultural institution, resulting in a remarkably graphic composition that was considerably ahead of his time.

This work is included numerous collections such as the MoMA (NYC) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC).

Kelly's work can be found in every major American museum's permanent collection in addition to the Centre Pompidou (Paris) the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid), Tate Modern (London) and the National Gallery (Ottawa)

Questions about this piece?  or call 1.416.704.1720

"Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Centre"

USA, 1965

Lithograph on Rives BFK paper 

Signed and annotated in pencil, lower edge

A.P. aside from an edition of 100

41.5"H 26"W (work)

43.75"H 28.5"W (framed)

Mild waviness to sheet. Overall very good condition

Published by Albert A. List Foundation, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Literature: Richard H. Axsom The Prints of Ellsworth Kelly: A Catalogue Raisonné 1949-1985. Hudson Hills Press, 1987, cat. no. IIe, p. 182, ill.