Photography by Edward C. Robison III.
Gematria
Two thinly painted lines—one vibrant orange and the other muted red—cut through an otherwise placid expanse of brown paint. After learning the Japanese concept of ma, Virginia Jaramillo stripped her work to the bare minimum, meticulously working to achieve the delicate balance between line and negative space.
Jaramillo explores spirituality and mathematics in her work. For example, this painting’s title, Gematria, refers to a form of numerology in which numbers correspond with letters from the Hebrew alphabet.
ArtistVirginia Jaramillo, born 1939
Date1974
MediumAcrylic on canvas
Dimensions72 x 60 1/8 x 2 in. (182.9 x 152.7 x 5.1 cm)
Inscription(s)verso, u.l.: V. JARAMILLO / 'GEMATRIA' / 1974 / ACRYLIC
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2021.9
ClassificationPainting
ProvenanceArtist; (Hales Gallery, New York, NY); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2021
On ViewNo
This artwork's face covers about 4.0× the area of a standard movie poster.Drawn to the same scale.