19

Al Loving

(1935-2005)

Flight.

Acrylic on canvas, 1967.
72 x 60 in. (182.9 x 152.4 cm.)

  • Provenance:
    Acquired from the artist's studio.
    Private collection, Colorado.

    "Flight," is a scarce work from Al Loving's early career as a painter. Similar examples can be found at The Studio Museum in Harlem, "Variations on a Six Sided Object," painted in 1967, and an untitled work also painted in 1967 belonging to the Detroit Institute of Arts.

    Al Loving began painting his geometric abstract paintings in 1967. He was inspired in part by the "Homage to the Square" compositions by Josef Albers. His works were focused primarily on the cube in space. This painting, from 1967, shows all sides of a cube, disassembled. He has placed it floating against a pink background, and bordered the edges in a simplified Whistler frame. Breaking with the color theory of Albers, Loving explored depth of field and angles of lighting through line, form, and color. Here, the planes of the cube are translucent and reflecting varied intensity of light. Loving's illusion breaks the picture plane and extends beyond the framing, casting a shadow across the bottom face of the frame. Other Al Loving works from this period are hexagonal in shape. With this format, Loving positions the cube in three quarter view. This allows the viewer to see three sides of the cube reflecting varied light. He further examines the play of light by opening the sides with a square within a square, exposing six angles, all in different colors and hues.
  • Condition:
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    Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.

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December 18, 2025 12:00 PM EST
New York, NY, US

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