Vir Heroicus Sublimis

Editor: So here we have Barnett Newman's *Vir Heroicus Sublimis*, a massive oil painting from 1950. It’s mostly fields of vibrant red, interrupted by these vertical lines. It's imposing...almost overwhelming in its scale. What’s your take on it? Curator: Let’s consider Newman’s process, shall we? This seemingly simple surface conceals layers upon layers of oil paint, applied and manipulated. And what of the red itself? Where did Newman source it? How did its pigment availability shape the choices of the time? The ‘zips,’ as he called those vertical lines, what tool did he employ? Their very placement disrupts the color field. Do they unify it, or divide it? What labor was involved in priming a canvas of this size and applying layer after layer? It’s an industrial scale artistic endeavor masquerading as pure expression. Editor: That's fascinating. I was so focused on the pure color that I hadn’t thought about the…labor involved. It feels almost mass-produced in its scale. Curator: Indeed. And doesn’t the very notion of "high art" versus "craft" become rather fuzzy when we confront the sheer physical undertaking of its making? Was this artwork about painting itself? Newman would refute, yet these processes were what underpinned his paintings’ success. Editor: I never really thought about Abstract Expressionism from that point of view, thinking about the physical *making* of the work itself! Curator: Exactly! By examining these details, it challenges our traditional understanding, focusing on the artistic production rather than the artist alone. What appears 'sublime' takes on the added perspective of labor!