UNTITLED IN BLUE, 1976
DON RAMETTE
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
152.5 x 112.0 cm
signed and dated verso: Ramette 76
Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne
The National Australia Bank Art Collection, acquired from the above in 1976 (label attached verso)
Minimal Paintings and Sculptures, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, 1976
The Seventies: Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the Collection of National Australia Bank, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 15
October – 28 November 1982
Lindsay, R., The Seventies: Australian Paintings and Tapestries from the
Collection of National Australia Bank, The National Bank of Australasia, Melbourne, 1982, pl. 75, p. 88 (illus.)
‘The goal in my art consists of the expression of a single emotion at its ultimate intensity. The apparently empty spaces play at least as important a role as those which are filled as it is through the relationship between the plain and more complex areas that the energy and movement essential to the tangible expression of the emotion become visible. The implied space of depth is as important as that of the actual two-dimensional surface. Most important of all is the act of manipulating and distorting visually the physical space of the work. The contrast between the colour and the plain background accomplishes this, while it is through the colour itself that I convey the type of emotion I am portraying. My minimal work forced me to concentrate upon presenting an intense emotional message within a very simple format and imbuing a formal, geometric image with energy and depth and paved the way for the more complex structures which followed.’
1. The artist, cited in Lindsay, R., The Seventies: Australian paintings and tapestries from the collection of National Australia Bank, National Bank of Australasia, Melbourne, 1982, p.75