American abstract painter Ad Reinhardt is celebrated for making monochrome paintings that explore variations found in a single color. Reinhardt removed all figuration, representation, and expression from his canvases in favor of painting pure geometric abstractions. In his mature work, Reinhardt mixed tiny amounts of red, green, and blue with copious amounts of black to create nearly imperceptible subtleties between layered shapes. At first glance a painting may look entirely black, but upon careful inspection subtle patterns begin to emerge, privileging close lookers.

–Philip Batler, from the Glenstone Field Guide