Munson
1991
This minimalist aquatint by James Turrell explores his signature investigations into the perception of light and space through subtle gradations of grey and luminous white. A central rectangular form appears simultaneously to recede and project outward from a softly toned field, creating an immersive optical experience characteristic of Turrell's practice. The print is designated as an Artist Proof and bears the artist's signature in pencil in the lower right margin alongside the title. It was acquired through a Director's Discretionary Fund and carries the museum accession number M.2006.100.1.
- Medium
- Aquatint
- Signed
- Yes
- Spotted At
- Museum · LACMA
Notes
Museum accession number: M.2006.100.1. Designated Artist Proof (AP). Framed in a light natural wood frame with white mat. Label text: James Turrell, United States, b. 1943; Munson, 1991; Aquatint; Director's Discretionary Fund.
Collectors with works by James Turrell
Artists in conversation
Robert Irwin
American · b. 1928
Irwin shares Turrell's obsessive focus on light perception and phenomenological experience, creating works where subtle tonal shifts and luminous fields challenge the viewer's spatial awareness in ways directly comparable to this aquatint's receding and projecting rectangular form.
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Japanese · b. 1948
Sugimoto's photographic and printmaking works use precisely calibrated gradations of grey and luminous white to create meditative optical fields where geometric forms seem to dissolve into light, mirroring the immersive perceptual ambiguity of this Turrell aquatint.
Anish Kapoor
British Indian · b. 1954
Kapoor's work in pigment and print repeatedly investigates how a central form can appear to simultaneously recede into infinite void and project outward, generating the same optical uncertainty and spatial disorientation central to this Turrell aquatint.
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