The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 30, 2023

Rho I

1977

Jack Whitten

(American, 1939–2018)

America, 20th century

Acrylic on canvas

Unframed: 182.8 x 213.2 cm (71 15/16 x 83 15/16 in.)

Gift of Scott C. Mueller and Margaret Fulton Mueller 2010.1

© Jack Whitten

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

This is part of Whitten’s “Greek Alphabet” series where he completely removed color from his works to see how black and white can work together—both artistically and politically.

Description

Whitten is a crucial member of a group of artists who championed “process” in the 1970s, creating artworks that openly reveal, instead of concealing, how they were created. Whitten would lay his canvas on his studio floor, apply the paint, and pull a developer (items ranging from hair picks to sheet metal) across the surface of the painting, revealing the multiple layers of paint below as well as an impression of the studio floor and any scraps that may have been left or placed beneath the canvas.

Provenance
1997-2010
Collection of the artist, consigned to Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY, 2010
2010
(Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 2010)
2010-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Ostrow, Saul. “Process, Image and Elegy.” Art in America 96, no. 4 (April 2008): 148-155, 183. Mentioned: pp. 152-153 search.ebscohost.com
Cleveland Museum of Art, "Cleveland Museum of Art Announces Newest Acquisitions," September 7, 2010, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
Franklin, David. Director’s Choice: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, in association with London: Scala Publishers Ltd., 2012. Reproduced: p. 72-73; mentioned: p. 73. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
Franklin, David, and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, in association with London: Scala Publishers Ltd., 2012. Reproduced: p. 335; mentioned: p. 334.
Franklin, David. “Recent Acquisitions (2005-2011) at the Cleveland Museum of Art.” The Burlington Magazine 154, no. 1312 (July 2012): 525-32. Reproduced p. 532, Fig. XX. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
Sparks, Amy and Rebecca Michaels, eds. African American Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Reproduced p. 6; mentioned: p. 26. ingallslibrary.on.worldcat.org
Lee, Key Jo, and William Griswold. Perceptual Drift: Black Art and an Ethics of Looking. Cleveland, OH : Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 15-31, fig. 1, 5a-b.
Exhibition history

Jack Whitten, Alexander Grey Gallery, New York, NY (September 13 - October 20, 2007)

Currents and Constellations: Black Art in Focus. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-June 26, 2022).

Julie Mehretu: Portals (FRONT International: Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 13, 2022).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2010.1