Avanti Adios

Asheville-born Kenneth Noland was one of the few Southerners to attend Black Mountain College, enrolling as a G.I. Bill student from 1946 to 1948, and again in 1950. Through his studies with Josef Albers and Ilya Bolotowsky, Noland developed an interest in the emotional effects of color and geometric forms. Thoroughly steeped in the abstract idiom, Noland emerged as an articulate Color Field painter who pioneered shaped canvases like Avanti Adios.

Created in 1978, Avanti Adios illustrates Noland’s signature staining technique, achieved by applying streaks of paint to raw canvas. By contrasting the plaid-like transparent hues in the center of the canvas with opaque strips of color in both flat and iridescent finishes, Noland offers a tactile expression of color.