Paintings I Like, pt. 16

The color show at MoMA was kind of a dud - a few terrific things to be sure (Morellet, Richter, Flavin, Lewitt), but mostly so-so. And the fault lies in the current preference for high-concept curation, in which a Big Idea is posited and disparate works are wedged in to fit.

So here's my low-concept idea for a show: "Color Painting, 1890 to Present." The curatorial idea doesn't need to be cumbersome, the big ideas are already in the paintings. Here's a small selection of the works that would be included:

Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, the West Portal and Saint-Romain Tower, Full Sunlight, Harmony in Blue and Gold, 1894. Oil on canvas, 42" x 29."

Paul Cezanne, Chateau Noir, 1904-06. Oil on canvas, 29" x 36."

Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition: White on White, 1918. Oil on canvas, 31" x 31."

Mark Rothko, Orange and Yellow, 1956. Oil on canvas, 91" x 71."

Morris Louis, Claustral, 1961. Oil on canvas, 85" x 65."

Larry Poons, Han-San Cadence, 1963. Acrylic and fabric dye on canvas, 72" x 144."

Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: On an Early Sky, 1964. Oil on hardboard, 48" x 48."

Jules Olitski, Comprehensive Dream, 1965. Acrylic on canvas, 135" x 93."

Julian Stanczak, Concurrent Colors, 1965. Acrylic on canvas, 45" x 46."

Bridget Riley, Big Blue, 1981-82. Oil over acrylic on linen, 92" x 79"