
The Way II
1969
Completed in 1969, The Way II stands among Barnett Newman's most concentrated explorations of vertical form and chromatic presence. Working in acrylic on a large canvas measuring just over 198 by 152 centimeters, Newman reduced his pictorial language to an absolute minimum: a field of deep, resonant color bisected by a single luminous zip, that iconic vertical element he had developed over two decades as both a formal and profoundly philosophical device. The painting demands full physical engagement, drawing the viewer into an experience that is less about representation than about confrontation with scale, light, and the trembling boundary between the finite and the infinite. Newman regarded his zip not as a dividing line but as a presence that unified and animated the canvas around it, and The Way II embodies that conviction with particular authority. The title carries unmistakable weight, invoking notions of path, passage, and metaphysical direction that recur throughout Newman's mature work and connect to his longstanding engagement with Jewish theological thought, especially concepts drawn from the sublime. This was one of the last major works Newman completed before his death in 1970, lending the painting a quality of summation, as though the artist were distilling a lifetime of inquiry into its most essential statement. Originating from the distinguished Beyeler collection, which assembled some of the defining examples of postwar American abstraction, The Way II carries exceptional provenance. The Beyeler holdings were renowned for their rigorous selectivity, and the inclusion of this work within that context speaks directly to its historical and aesthetic significance. For collectors seeking a painting of genuine canonical weight, one that holds its own in the company of the most ambitious color field and Abstract Expressionist works, this piece represents a rare opportunity to acquire a late Newman of unimpeachable quality.
- Medium
- Acrylic on canvas
- Overall
- Signed
- Yes
- Location
- The Menil Collection, Houston, TX
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