Attributed to Robert Ryman, it does not have a COA. Medium: acrylic panel. 29 x 23 inches. Provenance: private owner.

Biography: Robert Ryman was born in Nashville, Tennessee on May 30, 1930. He comes from a middle-class family; his father was a business man, his mother a amateur pianist. She fostered his early interest in music which was in the area of jazz. He studied the saxaphone for two years at Tennessee colleges. He attended the Tennessee Polytechnic Institute in Cooksville, Tennessee from 1948 to 1949 and the Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville from 1949 to 1950. He also served in the United States Army from 1950 to 1952 after which he moved to New York City.When he arrived in Manhattan in 1952, he had no idea he would become a painter since he knew virtually nothing about visual art. Wandering around New York like a tourist, he started to explore the city's art museums, and eventually bought some art supplies and tried painting. He soon gave up music entirely. He worked as a guard at the Museum of Modern Art where he met fellow artists Sol LeWitt and Dan Flavin and where he found ample time to study the modern masters. He was especially influenced by Cezanne, Picasso and Matisse and Mark Rothko. His last job was in the Art Division of the New York City Public Library, where he fleshed out his knowledge of art history.Ryman wanted to discover something that would be a new way of seeing. That involved a gradual withdrawal of some aspects of painting in order to focus on others. Color was suppressed, gradually, over time, until he was only painting with white, in all its possible shapes, forms, thickness, etc. His visual purity and unwavering pursuit of his original artistic ideals continue to command respect.

All authorship of items in this catalog are described according to the following terms:

Signed [Artist Name] : In cases in which the signature is legible in the lot, this work is described as-is with no attributions given.

By [Artist Name] : The work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : The work may be ascribed to the artist on the basis of style, but there may be some question as to actual authorship.

In the manner of [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : A work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: A work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century: This work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

Mint