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Inspired by the world around him, the clean lines and bold colors of Ellsworth Kelly's art combines precision and geo--metric form with the deep understanding of composition. Discover Ellsworth Kelly signed prints & paintings for sale at Guy Hepner, Kelly dealers since 2003.
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Latest: Ellsworth Kelly Prints For Sale
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Works
Ellsworth Kelly
Untitled (Orange/Black), 1972Lithograph in colors on Rives BFK34 1/8 x 26 7/8 in
86.7 x 68.3 cmEdition of 125Copyright The ArtistEllsworth Kelly’s Untitled (Orange/Black), 1972, is a powerful demonstration of his ability to create visual intensity through the most economical means. Executed as a lithograph in colors on Rives BFK...Ellsworth Kelly’s Untitled (Orange/Black), 1972, is a powerful demonstration of his ability to create visual intensity through the most economical means. Executed as a lithograph in colors on Rives BFK paper, the composition features a vertically oriented rectangle divided horizontally into two equal fields: a vivid, high-key orange above and a deep, matte black below. The division is exact and unwavering, producing a crisp visual boundary that heightens the chromatic contrast between the two halves.
The orange is bright and assertive, radiating warmth and energy, while the black beneath it provides a sense of solidity and visual weight. This pairing is both harmonious and oppositional—each color heightens the other’s presence, with the black appearing denser and more absorbing against the orange’s luminosity, and the orange seeming even more vibrant when set against the absorptive depth of black. Kelly’s mastery lies in this kind of direct, unmediated encounter between pure colors.
The structure of the work is rooted in simplicity yet carries a monumental presence. The rectangle is perfectly proportioned, and its central division creates a sense of balance without symmetry of mood—there’s an undeniable tension between the vibrancy above and the grounded stillness below. As with much of Kelly’s work, the white margins surrounding the central form are essential, providing a neutral spatial field that isolates the colored block and sharpens its impact.
The lithographic medium plays a critical role in the work’s precision. Rives BFK paper allows for rich, uniform fields of pigment and razor-sharp edges, ensuring that the focus remains on the purity of color and form without distraction from texture or gesture. Kelly’s process was meticulous, and the flawless execution here underscores his commitment to presenting color as a concrete, physical presence.
The title, Untitled (Orange/Black), is deliberately straightforward, aligning with Kelly’s philosophy of avoiding metaphor or narrative. The work is not “about” anything beyond the direct sensory experience of seeing these two colors in exact proportion, in direct relation to one another. Yet the pairing inevitably carries emotional resonance—viewers might associate it with signals, warning signs, or even seasonal references—but such readings exist outside of Kelly’s own intent.
Created in the early 1970s, Untitled (Orange/Black) belongs to a mature phase in Kelly’s career, when his visual language had been fully honed into its most essential form. It stands as a testament to his belief that profound visual and emotional impact can be achieved with nothing more than two colors, one shape, and a perfectly measured division.
For more information about Ellsworth Kelly Untitled (Orange/Black) for sale, contact our galleries using the form below.Overview"When I see a white piece of paper, I feel I've got to draw. And drawing, for me, is the beginning of everything."
Across Ellsworth Kelly’s art there is a deep understanding, appreciation and knowledge of color, shape and form. One of the most important Post-War artist’s, Ellsworth Kelly worked across prints, paintings, sculpture and installations developing a unique geo-metric and abstract style that placed emotion and color at its heart.
Throughout his career, Kelly explored the relationship between color, shape, and space, often creating works that blurred the boundaries between painting and sculpture. His use of bold, flat colors and geometric shapes became his signature style, earning him a reputation as one of the pioneers of minimalist art.
Within Ellsworth Kelly prints and paintings there is a sense of timeless in his bold use of shape and form and, of undeniably, his masterful use of color. Paired back and evocative, his works focus o form and space combing in a thoughtful, erudite manner which expresses deep emotion and an even deeper understanding spatial fields influenced by his nuanced knowledge and enjoyment of Pop art, Minimalism, hard-edge and color field painting. Across Kelly’s prints, available for sale at Guy Hepner, there is a sense of an artist who is deeply confident in stripping back, both visually and metaphorically, to allow [ure expression to abound across his works.
For over two decades Guy Hepner have sold Ellsworth Kelly prints and original artworks worldwide to our international network of private collectors and institutions. Located from our New York and London galleries, we help collectors to buy the very best Ellsowrth Kelly minimalist, bold and beautiful artworks.
For more information on our available Ellsworth Kelly prints for sale or to buy original Ellsworth Kelly paintings, contact info@guyhepner.comNews