Heritage Auctions: Modern & Contemporary Art (November 2016)

One of the original Color Field painters to emerge in the 1950s, Jules Olitski was deeply concerned with the physical properties of paint. In his early career, Olitski depicted abstract shapes with thick, heavily impastoed surfaces, but later took to layering thin films of spraypaint onto his canvases, creating a trademark atmospheric effect. Olitski was always drawn to bright color, experimenting with unusual color harmonies and chromatic shifts. He would eventually return to impasto, experimenting with acrylic paints, binders, and gels that were not previously available.