Jeremy Moon

At the time of his sudden death in 1973, artist Jeremy Moon (*1934, Altrincham, GB; †1973 London, GB) was engaged in studying the effect of colour as the sole subject in his work. He had adopted the abstract style of colour-field painting, which repudiates the conventional imitative function and considers the canvas simply as a medium for colour. Any reference to the individuality of the artist and the creation process (e.g. brushstrokes) is intentionally avoided. Tension in the composition is achieved solely through the use of specific colour combinations. Moon thus belongs to an art movement that engaged with the effect of colour as the sole subject of the work. Developed in 1940s/1950s America and subsequently exported to Europe, this movement's other exponents include Barnett Newman (*1905 New York, USA; †1970 New York, USA), Yves Klein (*1928 Nice, FR; †1962 Paris, FR) and Gerhard Richter (*1932 Dresden, DE). In his 1965 work, Moon uses two shades of complementary colours. Red and green are rejected as they would cancel each other out and cause the painting to fade into the wall. However, by adding yellow and white to both colours, he creates a shade of orange that enhances and intensifies the brilliance of the green. Circling the green are three ray-like orange wedges that light up the star. This impression is underscored by the three-dimensionality of the shaped canvas that gives the picture its form.