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Art Glossary: Color-Field Painting

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Rothko colorfield painting

A color-field painting by Mark Rothko.

Photo © Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Definition:

A color-field painting is one in which color is the subject, characterized by large areas of single color. The color is what dominates, not texture nor brushwork. The paintings are generally very large, so that when you're viewing it from up close your entire field of vision is filled with the color.

Techniques used to create a color-field painting include brushing, pouring, spraying, and staining unprimed canvas.

The term was first used to describe the paintings of American Abstract Expressionists such as Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman from the 1950.

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