Stanley Whitney

Stanley Whitney’s (born 1946) abstract works focus on the possibilities of color and form. His paintings feature highly saturated color fields arranged into structured grids, separated by energetic, gestural lines. Drawing on influences as varied as Titian and Velázquez, Minimalism, Color Field painting, Southern quilts, and the improvisational jazz of Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman, Whitney’s work is both musical and deeply expressive. While his art is informed by his identity as a Black American, he focuses on developing a distinct abstract visual language. His works are part of major collections, including the Long Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Palazzo Magnani, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.