Robert Ryman
Archive, 1979

Artwork Info

Artwork title
Archive
Artist name
Robert Ryman
Date created
1979
Classification
painting
Medium
oil on steel
Dimensions
13 1/2 in. × 11 7/8 in. × 1/2 in. (34.29 cm × 30.16 cm × 1.27 cm)
Date acquired
2000
Credit
Collection SFMOMA
Purchase through a gift of Mimi and Peter Haas
Copyright
© Robert Ryman / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Permanent URL
https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/2000.111
Artwork status
Not on view at this time.

Audio Stories

Ryman on his unusual approach to materials

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transcripts

NARRATOR: 

As a rule, most painters hide their hardware. But as you can see here, Robert Ryman thinks differently about things like bolts and fasteners. 

 

ROBERT RYMAN:  

I began using them in 1976, because I felt that paintings, of course, usually hang invisibly on the wall. But with my paintings, I felt that it could be possible to actually see that it was fastened to the wall plane; and in so doing, would bring the wall plane into the painting and make it more important. And of course, that allowed me to use them as a compositional element.  

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