On Kawara
American, born Japan, 1933-2014
Oct. 31, 1978 (Today Series, "Tuesday")
INV-5964
On Kawara
American, born Japan, 1933-20141978
Oct. 31, 1978 (Today Series, "Tuesday")
On Kawara American, born Japan, 1933-2014 →paintingmodern and contemporary art
Date
1978
Medium
Acrylic on canvas, with two newspapers
Dimensions
155 × 226 cm (61 × 89 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Twentieth-Century Purchase Fund
On Kawara’s work renders the passage of time and one life within its continuum. From 1966 until his death, the artist produced thousands of works in a series called Today. In each, he painted the date (notably, without using stencils) in white on a monochromatic field. While usually not exhibited a newspaper accompanies every work to document the location and context of its execution. Kawara always began and completed these works on the date represented, and if he did not finish a painting on its date, he destroyed it. While following these self-imposed guidelines, Kawara used a set range of canvas sizes for his date paintings. Oct.
31, 1978 is one of only ten works painted at this scale, the largest used in the series.
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