Untitled (14 Orange and Red) (1958) is an early example of the dichromatic hard-edge abstraction for which Carmen Herrera is best known. The composition features two triangles in red and orange which dissect the canvas along the diagonal, inscribing two smaller triangles at the center of the canvas with the colors inverted.

While the work’s structure anticipates later developments in the artist’s formal repertoire, exploring the interplay of positive and negative space through opposing planes of color, the palette of red and orange harkens back to earlier works from the artist’s Paris period (1948-1954), such as Iberic (1949), which is now in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Herrera’s use of the opposite colors on the turnover edges here functions as a kind of alternative framing device, a technique she also utilized in paintings with artist-made frames, such as Basque (1965) as well as Untitled (1952) in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA. Early on in her practice, Herrera began to consider her paintings as three dimensional objects, which would later lead to the development of her important Estructuras series.

This work also bears a noteworthy inscription of the artist’s Paris address, 5 Campagne Premiere, on the interior rail of the stretcher bar. Based on its small size and the artist’s use of burlap, one could speculate that Herrera brought the stretched canvas back from Paris when she returned to New York in 1954, only then to complete the painting in her mature hard-edge style. Although this remarkable painting has never before been exhibited, Herrera did occasionally return to the orange and red color palette throughout her career in later works such as Orange and Red (1989) and Desierto Rojo (2017).

Untitled (14 Orange and Red) (1958) is an early example of the dichromatic hard-edge abstraction for which Carmen Herrera is best known. The composition features two triangles in red and orange which dissect the canvas along the diagonal, inscribing two smaller triangles at the center of the canvas with the colors inverted.

While the work’s structure anticipates later developments in the artist’s formal repertoire, exploring the interplay of positive and negative space through opposing planes of color, the palette of red and orange harkens back to earlier works from the artist’s Paris period (1948-1954), such as Iberic (1949), which is now in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Herrera’s use of the opposite colors on the turnover edges here functions as a kind of alternative framing device, a technique she also utilized in paintings with artist-made frames, such as Basque (1965) as well as Untitled (1952) in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA. Early on in her practice, Herrera began to consider her paintings as three dimensional objects, which would later lead to the development of her important Estructuras series.

This work also bears a noteworthy inscription of the artist’s Paris address, 5 Campagne Premiere, on the interior rail of the stretcher bar. Based on its small size and the artist’s use of burlap, one could speculate that Herrera brought the stretched canvas back from Paris when she returned to New York in 1954, only then to complete the painting in her mature hard-edge style. Although this remarkable painting has never before been exhibited, Herrera did occasionally return to the orange and red color palette throughout her career in later works such as Orange and Red (1989) and Desierto Rojo (2017).

Untitled (14 Orange and Red) (1958) is an early example of the dichromatic hard-edge abstraction for which Carmen Herrera is best known. The composition features two triangles in red and orange which dissect the canvas along the diagonal, inscribing two smaller triangles at the center of the canvas with the colors inverted.

While the work’s structure anticipates later developments in the artist’s formal repertoire, exploring the interplay of positive and negative space through opposing planes of color, the palette of red and orange harkens back to earlier works from the artist’s Paris period (1948-1954), such as Iberic (1949), which is now in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Herrera’s use of the opposite colors on the turnover edges here functions as a kind of alternative framing device, a technique she also utilized in paintings with artist-made frames, such as Basque (1965) as well as Untitled (1952) in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA. Early on in her practice, Herrera began to consider her paintings as three dimensional objects, which would later lead to the development of her important Estructuras series.

This work also bears a noteworthy inscription of the artist’s Paris address, 5 Campagne Premiere, on the interior rail of the stretcher bar. Based on its small size and the artist’s use of burlap, one could speculate that Herrera brought the stretched canvas back from Paris when she returned to New York in 1954, only then to complete the painting in her mature hard-edge style. Although this remarkable painting has never before been exhibited, Herrera did occasionally return to the orange and red color palette throughout her career in later works such as Orange and Red (1989) and Desierto Rojo (2017).

Untitled (14 Orange and Red) (1958) is an early example of the dichromatic hard-edge abstraction for which Carmen Herrera is best known. The composition features two triangles in red and orange which dissect the canvas along the diagonal, inscribing two smaller triangles at the center of the canvas with the colors inverted.

While the work’s structure anticipates later developments in the artist’s formal repertoire, exploring the interplay of positive and negative space through opposing planes of color, the palette of red and orange harkens back to earlier works from the artist’s Paris period (1948-1954), such as Iberic (1949), which is now in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Herrera’s use of the opposite colors on the turnover edges here functions as a kind of alternative framing device, a technique she also utilized in paintings with artist-made frames, such as Basque (1965) as well as Untitled (1952) in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA. Early on in her practice, Herrera began to consider her paintings as three dimensional objects, which would later lead to the development of her important Estructuras series.

This work also bears a noteworthy inscription of the artist’s Paris address, 5 Campagne Premiere, on the interior rail of the stretcher bar. Based on its small size and the artist’s use of burlap, one could speculate that Herrera brought the stretched canvas back from Paris when she returned to New York in 1954, only then to complete the painting in her mature hard-edge style. Although this remarkable painting has never before been exhibited, Herrera did occasionally return to the orange and red color palette throughout her career in later works such as Orange and Red (1989) and Desierto Rojo (2017).