Gematria
Gematria
Artist
Virginia Jaramillo
(born 1939)
Date1974
MediumAcrylic on canvas
Dimensions72 in. × 60 1/8 in. × 2 in. (182.9 × 152.7 × 5.1 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2021.9
Accession number
2021.9
On View
Not on viewLabel TextTwo thinly painted lines—one vibrant orange and the other muted red—cut through an otherwise placid expanse of brown paint. After learning the Japanese concept of ma, Virginia Jaramillo stripped her work to the bare minimum, meticulously working to achieve the delicate balance between line and negative space.
Jaramillo explores spirituality and mathematics in her work. For example, this painting’s title, Gematria, refers to a form of numerology in which numbers correspond with letters from the Hebrew alphabet.
Inscribedverso, u.l.: V. JARAMILLO / 'GEMATRIA' / 1974 / ACRYLIC
