Exhibition tour includes:

Hayward Gallery, London, England
February 27 – April 7, 1980

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
April 23 – June 15, 1980

Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany
July 5 – September 7, 1980

For many years the Stedelijk Museum has shown interest in the art of Ellsworth Kelly. The first time his work was shown in this museum was in 1966, at the ‘New Shapes of Color’ exhibition, which was devoted to numerous artists who have since become known as Colourfield and Hard-Edge painters. Kelly attracted attention at once, with the intensity and subtlety which he combined to create a very exact and basic formulation. In the same year two works by him were purchased for the Stedelijk Museum collection, one of which was Blue Red Rocker (1963). Since then several more paintings, drawings and graphic works by Kelly have been added to the collection. So, it is time, now, to present this artist in a broader context than the Stedelijk Museum collection alone can provide.

This exhibition was compiled by Rini Dippel, chief curator of Painting and Sculpture of the Stedelijk Museum, working in close collaboration with the artist. The exhibition affords insight into Kelly’s development during the past fifteen years. Special attention has been paid to the more recent works. Specific problems of shape are treated in the successive stages of his development, each represented by several works.

The exhibition will be shown in the Hayward Gallery in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden-Baden.

– Edy de Wilde, Director, Stedelijk Museum, Introduction for the catalogue of the exhibition