Carlos Cruz-Diez Physichromy 21 Paris, 1960

  • Not on view

To Cruz-Diez, color was “not simply the color of things or the color of form [but rather] an evolving situation, a reality which acts on the human being with the same intensity as cold, heat, and sound.” He saw color as a physical phenomenon that unfolds in time and depends on both context and viewer. Cruz-Diez painted this work’s protruding strips in different hues to create shifting color harmonies as the viewer moves in relation to the piece.

Gallery label from Sur moderno: Journeys of Abstraction—The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift, October 21, 2019–March 14, 2020
Medium
Casein on cardboard over wood
Dimensions
28 3/4 x 29 15/16" (73 x 76 cm)
Credit
Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros through the Latin American and Caribbean Fund
Object number
802.2016
Copyright
© Carlos Cruz-Diez / Bridgeman Images, 2022
Department
Painting and Sculpture

Installation views

We have identified these works in the following photos from our exhibition history.

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Provenance

The artist.
? - 1997, Atelier Cruz-Diez, Paris.
1997 - 2016, Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, and Caracas, purchased through Atelier Cruz-Diez.
2016, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, acquired as promised gift from Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.

Exhibition history

Caracas, Directv Venezuela, "Ceci n’est pas un satellite: Obras contemporáneas de la Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros en el Venezuela Broadcast Center de Directv", 1998 - 1999

Austin, Blanton Museum of Art, "Dynamic Oppositions: Venezuelan Abstract-Constructive Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection", January 7, 1999 - December 3, 2001

Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum, "Geometric Abstraction, Latin American Art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection / Abstracción Geométrica Arte Latinoamericano en la Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros", March 3 - November 4, 2001

São Paulo, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, “Paralelos: Arte brasileira da segunda metade do século XX em contexto. Colección Cisneros ", March 21 - June 16, 2002 and tour:
Rio de Janeiro, Museu de Arte Moderna de Rio de Janeiro, July 11 - September 22, 2002

Buenos Aires, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, "Geo-metrías. Abstracción geométrica latinoamericana en la Colección Cisneros", March 14 - May 19, 2003 and tour:
Montevideo, Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales de Montevideo, July 3 - October 25, 2003

Lima, Museo de Arte de Lima, "Diálogos. Arte Latinoamericano desde la Colección Cisneros", July 22 - September 26, 2004 and tour:
Santiago, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, November 25 - February 28, 2005
Bogotá, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, May 5 - June 29, 2005

Austin, Blanton Museum of Art, "The Geometry of Hope. Latin american abstract art from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros", February 20- April 22, 2007 and tour:
New York, Grey Art Gallery, September 12 - December 8, 2007

Stockholm, Moderna Museet, "Concrete Matters", February 24 - May 13, 2018

MoMA Exh. #2424: "Sur moderno: Journeys of Abstraction—The Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Gift", 3rd Floor, 3 East, October 21, 2019 - September 12, 2020

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