Untitled

A self-described “abstract Surrealist,” Emerson Woelffer taught a 1949 summer course at Black Mountain College, an appointment facilitated by his friend Buckminster Fuller. The Chicago native’s painting style was intuitive and improvisational, a method he likened to jazz. This “paint first and think afterwards” approach is apparent in this untitled painting, where totemic symbols and pictographs emerge from a series of undulating lines and oblong shapes. The muted palette exudes an enigmatic, slightly ominous ambiance, underscoring the interplay between color, line, and shape. Woelffer later rose to prominence as a pioneer of California modernism.