Be I (second version)

1970

Barnett Newman American, 1905-1970

Not On View

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Newman has described the dark cadmium red of this painting as a symbolic reference to the earth. The unmodulated, painstakingly applied color is interrupted by the precisely centered white stripe, which he called a "zip." The "zip" suggests an instantaneous moment, like a flash of lightning, which enlivens the enveloping spell of the red field. The title connotes existence or being, reduced to a single compelling command: Be! This painting, one of the artist's last completed works, is a later version of a similar painting of 1949 that was damaged beyond repair.

Title Be I (second version)

Artwork Date 1970

Artist Barnett Newman

Life Dates 1905-1970

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 111 1/2 × 84 × 1 5/16 inches (283.2 × 213.4 × 3.3 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department Contemporary Art after 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 76.78

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

1977-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Hess, Thomas B. "Barnett Newman." Exh. cat., the Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1971, p.145 (ill).

Bulletin of the DIA 56, no. 1 (1977): 35 (ill.).

Rosenberg, Harold. Barnett Newman. New York, 1978, p. 41, p. 144 (ill.).

Neff, John Hallmark. "A Barnett Newman for Detroit." Bulletin of the DIA 56, no. 3, 1978, p. 159-167 (ill.).

Colby, Joy. "At Art Institute, drawings with zip." The Detroit News, August 19, 1979, p. 6-E.

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, p. 230, p. 231 (ill.).

Abstract Expressionism: The Critical Developments. Exh. cat., Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Buffalo, 1988, cat. no. 52, p. 218-219.

Bois, Yve-Alain. "Perceiving Newman." Exh. cat., the Pace Gallery. New York, 1988, p. VI.

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Barnett Newman, Be I (second version), 1970, acrylic on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II Fund, 76.78.