Currently not on view

Love Accepted,

1965

Jules Olitski, American, born Russia, 1922–2007
2013-1

Love Accepted represents a watershed moment in Olitski’s career. In 1965 the artist began experimenting with spraying acrylic paint onto canvas. This innovative technique resulted in equally groundbreaking results: luminous, nearly uninterrupted fields of color unencumbered by shapes, structures, or lines, and unbounded by anything save the edges of the canvas. Here Olitski used the spray gun to alter the pigment’s density and, by extension, its saturation, resulting in subtle chromatic shifts. Aerating the paint also created a host of contradictory effects, imbuing the canvas with the immeasurable depth and disembodied tactility of fog.

More Context

<em>Love Accepted</em> represents a watershed moment in Jules Olitski’s career. It was produced by spraying acrylic paint onto a canvas, a method with which the artist began to experiment in the same year he created <em>Love Accepted</em>. This innovative technique resulted in equally novel results: a luminous, nearly uninterrupted field of color unencumbered by shape, structure, and line and unbounded by anything save the edges of the canvas. Here, Olitski used the spray gun to alter the pigment’s density and, by extension, its saturation, resulting in subtle chromatic shifts. Aerating the paint also created a host of contradictory effects, imbuing <em>Love Accepted</em> with the immeasurable depth and disembodied tactility of fog.

<em>Love Accepted</em> represents a watershed moment in Jules Olitski’s career. It was produced by spraying acrylic paint onto a canvas, a method with which the artist began to experiment in 1965, the same year he created <em>Love Accepted</em>. This innovative technique resulted in equally innovative results: a luminous, nearly uninterrupted field of color unencumbered by shape, structure, and line and unbounded by anything save the edges of the canvas. Here, Olitski used the spray gun to alter the pigment’s density and, by extension, its saturation, resulting in subtle chromatic shifts. Aerating the paint also created a host of contradictory effects, imbuing <em>Love Accepted</em> with the immeasurable depth and disembodied tactility of fog. Works like <em>Love Accepted</em> culminate nearly a century of experiments with abstract painting, and it was championed by modernists such as Clement Greenberg and Michael Fried for just this reason. No matter how resolute his rejection of illusionism, however, Olitski’s evocative titles suggest a lingering attachment to narrative, especially as it pertains to love, desire, and passion.

Information

Title
Love Accepted
Dates

1965

Medium
Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions
142.2 x 48.3 cm. (56 x 19 in.) frame: 144.8 x 52.1 x 4.1 cm. (57 x 20 1/2 x 1 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dasha Shenkman, in memory of Meir Z. Ribalow, Class of 1970
Object Number
2013-1
Signatures
Dated, titled, and signed in crayon(?) on verso: 1965 / Love Accepted / Jules Olitski
Inscription
In crayon(?) on verso: Top [an up arrow] / 1965 / 56" x 19" / Love Accepted / Jules Olitski / Acrylic / (water base)
Culture
Materials

Dasha Shenkman, London, England, gift; to Princeton University Art Museum, 2013.