Ellsworth Kelly – Sculpture on the Wall

In 1950, Ellsworth Kelly (b. 1923) declared his aspiration to create “things to cover walls.” His career has been devoted to exploring the intersection of painting, sculpture, and architecture in flat “painting/objects” that seem to float free of the wall, subverting the sculptural tradition of work in the round. »Ellsworth Kelly: Sculpture on the Wall« examines the relationship of his work to architecture, starting with his first commissioned works, created for the Philadelphia Transportation Building at Penn Center, particularly the monumental Sculpture for a Large Wall, 1956–1957. Published to accompany an exhibition, Ellsworth Kelly: Sculpture on the Wall, held at the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, May 4–September 2, 2013.