



After math, #7
1985
Frederick Hammersley's "After math, #7" from 1985 presents a compact yet commanding example of the artist's hard-edge geometric sensibility, rendered in oil on Masonite at approximately 29 by 36 centimeters. Hammersley, a central figure in the West Coast hard-edge movement alongside Karl Benjamin, John McLaughlin, and Lorser Feitelson, brought a singular wit and intellectual rigor to geometric abstraction, and this small-format work demonstrates how effectively he could compress philosophical inquiry into disciplined formal arrangement. The title itself is characteristic of Hammersley's wordplay, treating language as an extension of pictorial logic, with "After math" suggesting both consequence and the domain of numbers, hinting at the calculated yet intuitive process behind the composition. The work is housed in a frame made by the artist himself, a detail that speaks to Hammersley's holistic approach to the object as a complete, self-contained entity. He viewed the frame not as a neutral border but as an integral part of the work's visual argument, and collectors have long prized these artist-framed pieces for the added dimension of intentionality they carry. The Masonite support, favored by Hammersley for its smooth, unyielding surface, allows the oil paint to register with crisp fidelity, giving the geometric forms their characteristic clean presence. For collectors drawn to postwar American abstraction with strong provenance connections to the California scene, this work represents a mature and confident statement from an artist whose reputation has grown considerably since major institutional surveys brought renewed attention to the hard-edge movement. The work ships from Los Angeles, situating it geographically within the tradition it helped define.
- Medium
- Oil on Masonite in artist's frame
- Overall
- Signed
- Yes
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Rago/Wright/LAMA/Toomey & Co.
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