Scratching the Surface: Barnett Newman

Barnett Newman

There was a man by the name of Barnett Newman, who was born about the turn of the century, January of 1905.

Barnett Newman was born in New York City, where his parents owned a clothing manufacturing business. He studied philosophy in the city college, and then in agreement with his father, he worked his family’s business.

His sojourn led him to attempt a number of positions in a number of different fields including painting, writing, and substitute teaching. At one point he attempted to develop a magazine that would promulgate the rights and saga of public and civil workers, calling it “The Answer”.  In another attempt to provide something on a larger scale, he offered himself as a write-in candidate for the position of mayor for New York City!

It would seem that in each one of us is the spirit of the sense of a larger ability to accomplish. Not something to aspire to, but more of a knowing that we have this capacity to do so.  What most have settled for is a small version of that realization, leaving much of potential in the ethereal unrealized.

Barnett found in 1948, on his birthday a moment of realization that brought his capacities and talents to a point of understanding something of the truth of his potential.  Something that stirred his imagination in the reality of why, what and where his place was in the universe.  A place that signified an understanding of the revelation of the underlying foundation of art.  That realization allowed for a beginning point from which a change in the direction of art could begin to appear.

Any art worthy of its name should address ‘life’, ‘man’, ‘nature’, ‘death’ and ‘tragedy’.

Barnett Newman

As he stated and I paraphrase here, it was not something that he consciously chose, but rather something that was created through him.  The implication was that there was as much in the invisible as there was in the visible, in the creating of art, in life, and in living.  This specific moment of understanding allowed him to focus the rest of his life to bringing it to others through his art.

Barnett Newman: Concord

Did the world want to hear that specific message?  The truth that the foundation of art, as in life, was at once simple yet filled with seeds of specific interpretation and manifestation? That each one of us are here for the purpose of revealing the simplicity of Life?

Barnett Newman Painting Onement

I hope that my painting has the impact of giving someone, as it did me, the feeling of his own totality, of his own separateness, of his own individuality.

Barnett Newman

Almost exclusively, the art critics of the time eschewed him from the collection of other contemporary artists. At one point, in 1952, the Museum of Modern Arts had an exhibition called “Fifteen Americans” in which they excluded Barnett from the group, a clear response of not understanding the presentation of his work. It took yet another six years until 1958, that MoMA included his paintings in a traveling exhibition called “The New American Painting”, which was shown across Europe.

It would seem that if we chose to let the world define us, we would become a cog in a large, and overrated manufacturing machine, creating products, buying things, and paying interest and taxes to sustain the machine’s existence.  There are moments of joy, moments of compassion and glimpses of truth interspersed between the grinding of the days, until finally the energy and life force is used up and one is no longer needed by the machine.  Is this the price of allowing our talents and capacities for creation to be thrown aside, like they were some kind of interesting dream that we remembered for a moment?

Barnett Newman Wasko Man in the Night

If we are convinced on the one hand that what is to be accomplished is right for us, in this time and place, then where would we place the value of recognition?  Is for instance the value of doing something for recognition more important than the doing for the pleasure of responding to the inner realms of the heart?  To the degree that we can begin to understand why it is we do what we do, the purpose of our lives is in fact, brought to a point of delicious joy and satisfaction. It is the kind of satisfaction that supersedes the quest for recognition, though as the value of what is accomplished finds response in others, then a certain level of recognition is attained naturally and organically.

I prefer to leave the paintings to speak for themselves.

Barnett Newman

Clearly we must each one make certain choices in light of the circumstances that are presented in front of us. The world will always present choice “A” or “B”. That is how we know that it is a worldly situation!  The world is full of limitations.  The truth is, from the foundation of reality, is that there are no limitations to the ability to create. We all know this at some level.  The revelation of the visible is what the centering of the world is about, but the essence of the freedom to create begins in a place called the invisible, and the world has no hold on that.  Even if one is deep in the buying and selling of worldly things, true freedom stands clear, and untouched.  Yet the essence of a seed planted is that it will grow, if properly nourished and cared for, and that which is conceived in a safe containment and atmosphere will find a way to the light. And so it will be with the nourishing of our larger self in due season.

Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Tony Smith at the Betty Parson's Gallery

How fun! Stay tuned because there is certainly just a scratching of the surface of the truth of our lives here. Always a pleasure to hear your comments!

Works Cited

Barnett Newman Foundation. “Chronology of the Artist’s Life.” 2005. Barnett Newman Foundation. Dec 2011.

Newman, Barnett. Barnett Newman Interview Chromatichouse on Youtube.

—. “Barnett Newman Quotes.” 2001. Brainy Quotes. Dec 2011.

Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Barnett Newman.” 2011. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Dec 2011.