Landfield's Work is sereine, and inviting the viewer into a space which is welcoming and warm.
Ronnie Landfield’s On the Threshold |
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On the Threshold, 1985, acrylic on canvas, 56 x 44in |
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Bursting on the 1960s New York art scene, Ronnie Landfield (b. 1947) reinvigorated American abstraction by introducing emotion, gesture, and atmospheric warmth back into Color Field painting. Entering the Kansas City Art Institute at 16 and chosen for the Whitney Biennial at age 20, Landfield emerged as a central figure in Lyrical Abstraction—a movement celebrated for its poetic blend of structure and spontaneity. Today, his works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. |
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On the Threshold (detail), 1985, acrylic on canvas, 56 x 44in |
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Landfield’s approach to canvas is a captivating dialogue between organic fluidity and geometric order. Working with raw or lightly primed canvas, placed directly on the floor, Landfield pours, washes, and stains translucent layers of acrylic paint. This wet-on-wet technique allows colors to bleed, swirl, and form unpredictable, active and atmospheric depths that evoke skies, horizons, and ethereal landscapes. Once Landfield achieves the central field, he applies crisp, hard-edged bands of flat color along the margins. Masked and precise, these geometric borders anchor the fluid space, acting like architectural doorways or window frames through which the viewer is drawn into the color field. |
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On the Threshold (viewed in room), 1985, acrylic on canvas, 56 x 44in |
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On the Threshold perfectly captures Landfield at the height of his mature style. The central field reads like a luminous horizon—a rich, emotive wash where soft dusty rose merges into vibrant cobalt blue and shimmering highlight tones. Framing this intuitive, cloud-like center are razor-sharp vertical bands of blush peach and an understated base tone. The interaction creates an unmistakable sense of transition: the rigid geometric border acts as a literal "threshold," stepping the viewer from structured reality into an expansive, spiritual world. |
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Untitled, c. 1970-71, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 37in |
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Today and Tomorrow, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 37in |
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