Robert Ryman | Jordan Anderson | Drawing I

Robert Ryman was born in Nashville in 1930. Ryman’s life has not always been centered around his unusual yet unique art. Ryman, as no surprise to native Tennesseans, pursued music for a portion of his life. Though he pursued music, Ryman joined the army and served from 1950 to 1952. Moving further into his life Ryman, after his service in the army and pursuit of music, eventually took a job as a security guard at the Museum of Modern Art and the rest can be called history. Ryman would go on to dedicate his life to art and the world would be introduced to his artwork of choice. Most of Ryman’s work today if not all of his work incorporates one thing and that is the color white. Ryman is a minimalistic artist and his work definitely speaks to his style of choice. Ryman does not focus so much on creating extravagant pieces of art but instead he pushes toward ideas such as the process and form and how the piece of art works within the space it is in. He focuses on the art and how it works within its space, for example, Ryman speaks on some of his art and the light he uses to illuminate it. He talks on how the light matters in presenting his art, the quality of the light makes the difference in presenting the art in the space it is in. Ryman himself says that he has never really considered white a color and he believes white can do things that other colors cannot do. To add on to his minimalistic style, a lot of Ryman’s work is on perfectly square material. Looking into his reasoning, Ryman himself has said that when he started painting and his artistic career he did not care to be an entertainer. Ryman is more focused on his own interests and pursuits versus trying to create pieces of art for people and their entertainment. Ryman simply believes that if people want to come and see his work then they will come, this is an idea and belief that he brings from his musical pursuit earlier in his life. The piece below is a perfect example of Ryman’s very minimalistic approach to art. The piece is no more than a square canvas covered in white paint. As stated before, Ryman’s interest is in the piece and how it can be viewed within the space it is in. White does things other colors cannot, as he stated, and within this piece we see the white within the space cast shadows and take on its space and surrounding in a way that other colors cannot.

Robert Ryman. Series #17 (White), 2003. Oil on canvas; 24 × 24 inches.. Private Collection, France. Courtesy of Pace Gallery, New York.

Though Ryman works with the color white quite a bit he does not only bind himself to the color or the lack thereof. In the piece below Ryman uses more than just white to create the work. Looking at Ryman’s work, one might think he is untalented and unsuccessful but he has much success in his art career. To just name a few of his achievements Ryman has accomplished he received the Skowhegan medal in 1985, he received a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 1972, he has had major exhibitions in the Museum of Modern Art, and the list goes on in his art achievements. Ryman is a minimalistic artist but he does what he is interested in and does not focus on pleasing an audience.