Sondra and Table, No. 1

The sitter is barely visible, with only her head and arm leaning over the loveseat. Though we know her to be Beal’s wife, Sondra Freckelton, her distant gaze and concealed body shroud her in mystery. For Beal, this work was a deviation from his usual style and an experiment in the so-called Hard-Edge movement, which involved bolder palettes and geometric fields. Beal’s strong lines and color here seem to take precedence even over his own signature, which we see almost camouflaged in the lower right corner. Indeed, Sondra herself arguably loses some of her individuality, being reduced to yet more lines and colors.