Cathedra - Barnett Newman

Cathedra
Barnett Newman (1905-1970)
1951

Oil on Canvas
Stedelijk Museum
Amsterdam, Netherlands

            After World War II, many new forms of abstract art developed.  Many artists allowed their art styles to reflect the terrors of the war and Holocaust.  Other artists sought to keep the art separate from the effect of the war.  Still others, such as Barnett Newman, tried to redefine beauty and uplift the spirit of people affected by the war. A leader in the Abstract Expressionist movement, Newman believed that the duty of the post-war artist was to express the sublime and bring a new ideal to the people who had endured such a bleak period of time.  In his book The Sublime Is Now, Newman writes: “I believe that here in America, some of us, free from the weight of European culture, are finding the answer, by completely denying that art has any concern with the problem of beauty and where to find it.”  Newman believed that it was not the responsibility of art to determine beauty.  Instead, he thought art should convey large ideas and grand experiences that promote thought and a metaphysical revelation. 

             Barnett Newman was born to a Jewish family in New York City.  He grew up in the Bronx and eventually attended university to study art and philosophy.  Newman especially took interest in the roles of art, space, and beauty.  When he graduated from college, Newman worked various jobs for about 15 years while maintaining his artwork on the side.  Then, in 1944 he returned entirely to art.  By 1946 he was given his own exhibition at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York. 

            Initially the Surrealist movement inspired Newman, but his continual transition away from figurative works defined his work as Expressionist.  Eventually, Newman was classified as one of the pioneers of the American Abstract Expressionist movement.  However, Newman refrained from declaring his style as any particular classification.  Newman, in his paintings, developed the concept of the “zip”, a thin strip of contrasting color, and used this feature in the majority of his works.  Many of Newman’s paintings were large fields of solid color with one or more “zips” that represented beings with which to interact and have an encounter.  In Cathedra, Newman displays this design.

Cathedra was created to represent the Old Testament God of the Israelites.  The deep blue represents being in the presence of royalty.  A pure white “zip” divides the canvas asymmetrically.  Newman intended for his paintings to be encountered in the same way that one person encounters another.  The viewer could accomplish this by standing directly in front of the canvas and becoming overcome by the painting.  In Cathedra, one feels the immense heaviness of the blue, and the white “zip” points to a higher power that is infinite and therefore unable to be grasped. 

Unfortunately, Newman’s work was highly controversial as art.  Many people believed that his work did not require skill, was vague, and was too subjective.  They often made viewers who did not have the intellectual understanding feel inferior and inadequate.  In 1997, Gerard Jan van Balderen attacked Cathedra with a knife.  The painting was at the time valued at $12 million.  Five long slashes were made along a horizontal plane.  Ironically, the repaired stitches in Cathedra now offer more symbolism within the art piece.

Report by Benjamin Mills - 2015