Original artwork description:

Vir Heroicus Sublimis, Latin for 'Man, heroic and sublime', is Barnett Newman’s largest painting at the time of its completion. It's meant to overwhelm the senses.

Viewers may be inclined to step back from it to see it all at once, but Newman instructed precisely the opposite. When the painting was first exhibited, Newman tacked to the wall a notice that read: 'There is a tendency to look at large pictures from a distance. The large pictures in this exhibition are intended to be seen from a short distance.' Newman believed deeply in the spiritual potential of abstract art.

Materials used:

Acrylic on masonite

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