Accession Code: wu0171 Title: Untitled (viii) Date completed: 1966 Medium: Prints Material: Lithograph Height (mm): 558 Width (mm): 432 Depth (mm): n/a Inscription: Blind stamped with publishers mark. Location Name: Radcliffe House Location Description: Teaching Centre Location Floor: 1

An American abstract painter, critic, theoretician and teacher, Reinhardt is regarded as one of the pioneers of American Abstraction. He was deeply influenced by the purity of Arabic and Oriental Art and travelled extensively in the Near and Far East between 1958 and 1961. Reinhardt distilled and purified his compositions until he achieved his most subtle paintings which are composed of nearly black trisected squares. His method was a precursor to the Minimalist artists of the 1960s, such as Carl Andre and Sol Le Witt, who used mathematically derived units, in simple compositions, to attempt a redefinition of space.

The University purchased eight of the original set of ten prints which have a contemplative quality. The subtle changes of hue within each work are symptomatic of Reinhardt's late works.