Blue Note

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Blue Note

Vaclav Vytlacil American, 1892 - 1984

1967

Casein Tempera on Panel

36 x 24 in. (91.4 x 61.0 cm)

Framed Size: 50 1/4 x 38 inches; Painted in 1967 at the height of Vytlacil's mature powers, Blue Note is a vibrant and rhythmically charged abstraction that pulses with the energy of its jazz-inflected title. A student of Hans Hofmann and a key bridge figure between European modernism and the American avant-garde, Vytlacil brings a sophisticated structural intelligence to this bold composition — fractured planes of cobalt blue, burnt orange, black, and white interlock and shift across the panel surface with the improvisational freedom of a jazz performance. The casein tempera medium lends the surface a distinctive matte luminosity, every mark retaining its freshness and immediacy. A major late work by an artist of significant historical importance to American modernism.