Accession Number
1954/2.38

Title
The Conjurer

Artist(s)
Maurice Estève

Object Creation Date
1951

Medium & Support
oil on canvas

Dimensions
28 11/16 in x 23 5/8 in (72.87 cm x 60.01 cm);29 3/16 in x 24 1/8 in (74.14 cm x 61.28 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
Though Estève typically denied being classified as an abstract painter, the majority of his work, such as this, are non-representational. Instead, inspired early on by the work of artists such as Cézanne and the Cubists, he developed an interest in the formal qualities of shape, color, and light. This painting was done after Estève's transformative period of work and he worked directly on the canvas without preliminary sketches. His use of color was some of the most influential of the time period.

Physical Description
This abstract painting is made up of geometric shapes in four main colors. The lower left is a bright yellow, the upper left is green, much of the right hand side is orange with a slightly lighter orange area in the upper right corner.  Over these areas are a thin, blue vertical rectangle in the center left and a cluster of geometric shapes in red, black, blue, green, and white in the upper half.  

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Non-Representational Art
abstraction
color (perceived attribute)
modern and contemporary art
nonrepresentational art