An Irruption of the Rainbow: Color in 20th-Century Art at LACMA

An Irruption of the Rainbow: Color in 20th-Century Art looks at various ways that modern artists have used color in their work.  Artists began to experiment with color in the late 19th century, employing it not only descriptively but also scientifically, politically, formally, and to stimulate the senses. Paul Signac declared his allegiance to color theory, while Wassily Kandinsky, a pioneer of abstraction, played with synesthesia. The Russian avant-garde artists El Lissitzky and Pyotr Konchalovsky used color polemically in the 1920s, as did Sister Mary Corita Kent some half century later. Henri Matisse, one of the greatest masters of color, used pared-down colored shapes to explore notions of figure and ground, presence and void. Photographer William Eggleston found heightened color in everyday situations, while contemporary artists Polly Apfelbaum and Ginny Bishton bring together ordinary materials and bold color to create vibrant works of art. This exhibition, drawn from LACMA’s collection, also includes works by Sonia Delaunay, Kazimir Malevich, Morris Louis, John McLaughlin, and Ellsworth Kelly.