In the late 1960s, Jules Olitski aspired to create "colors sprayed into the air and staying there." Airbrushed atmospheres of atomized color and light framed by horizon-like edges of brushed paint became the elements of his signature style. Since the canvases also accorded perfectly with Clement Greenberg's formalist theories, they earned the artist that influential critic's encomium as "the greatest painter alive." Hyperbole or not, Olitski's career blossomed; in 1966 he was chosen to represent America at the Venice Biennale; in 1969 he was given the first Metropolitan Museum of Art solo show by a living artist. Jules Olitski: Embracing Circles 1959-1964 explores the artist's early work. Featuring biomorphic forms, jazzy palettes and raffish titles, these abstractions are a revelation--insouciant, fresh and undated.
