Description
On the heels of his T cycle paintings, Howard Mehring adopted a new pattern scheme based on the “Z” form. Though these works make no effort to be “optical” (in the sense of creating spatial illusionism or three-dimensionality), they are strikingly dynamic.
Like the Ts, the central color band in Mehring’s Z form work sis consistently a receding, dark hue. The strong diagonals in the Zs set up an aggressive dynamism, as though the entire surface were being tugged along two opposing axes.
And Again was painted in 1968. It was exhibited at Mehring’s 1977 major retrospective exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery and featured in the exhibition catalog. The silkscreen was printed the following year.
This example is a rare signed proof print of an archetypal Mehring hard-edged silkscreen, with deep, rich colors, beautifully presented.
The work has superb provenance. It was acquired from the estate of Washington Color School artist James F. Hilleary, who received the work as a gift directly from the artist, a close friend.