Painting blindfold: New MFAH show shines light on a master modernist who pushed the limits

Jules Olitski rose to fame in the New York art world of the early 1960s as one of the leading figures of Color Field painting, a cousin of Abstract Expressionism largely characterized by solid patches of pure color.

Opening Sunday at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Revelation: Major Paintings by Jules Olitski re-examines key phases of the master modernist's five decade career — from early colorful stain paintings like Monkey Woman (the second picture in this article's slideshow) to dark, textured works from his so-called "Baroque" period in the '70s and '80s to the moody canvases painted in the years before the artist's death in 2007.

MFAH curator of contemporary art Alison de Lima Greene, one of the show's organizers, began a Friday preview tour of Revelation with a story of how, during his time as an art student in postwar Paris, the artist would paint blindfolded as a form of self-analysis. By creating art, quite literally, in the dark, Olitski felt he could free himself from his long-established habits to devise new forms.

"As [Olitski] continued to push the limits of painting," curator Alison de Lima Greene said, "he also looked back to Rembrandt and El G reco.”

"This idea of working from darkness into light is the core theme of the show," de Lima Greene explained. "As we planned the exhibition, we deliberately employed light and dark against each other, whether it was the High A Yellow of his mid career or his later deep, dark paintings."

Selecting just the right juxtapositions was no easy task, she told CultureMap after the tour. Olitski's studio output produced canvases numbering in the hundreds, but with the help of Art in America writer Karen Wilkin and distinguished curator E.A. Carmean, the group was able to distil the artist's full range of work into 30 monumental pieces.

Along with fellow artists like Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis, Olitski brought Color Field painting into the forefront as one of the new artistic movements taking the long-popular Abstract Expressionism in new directions. In 1969, he became the first living artist to have a one-man show at New York's Metropolitan Museum.

Minimalism and Pop Art overshadowed Color Field's popularity by the early 1970s, yet Olitski nevertheless maintained his course, evolving his techniques into what curators dub his Baroque era.

This, of course, is when the work gets particularly interesting, as the artist embraces new types of paint and radical forms of experimentation while maintaining firm grasp of art history.

"As he continued to push the limits of painting," de Lima Greene said, "he also looked back to Rembrandt and El Greco.”

These dark brown and black hues of 17th century European art remained with Olitski for the rest of his career, even as he reintroduces pop of bright color into works like his 2002 series With Love and Disregard, which closes out the retrospective.

Revelation: Major Paintings by Jules Olitski will be on view at the MFAH's Caroline Wiess Law Building from Sunday through May 6.