Representation and abstraction: looking at Millais and Newman

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John Everett Millais, Ophelia, 1851-2 (Tate Britain) and Barnett Newman, Vir Heroicus Sublimus, 1950-51 (MoMA)

What’s “heroic” about a painting that looks like a craft project on HGTV? This comparison suggests an answer.

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Cite this page as: Sal Khan, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Representation and abstraction: looking at Millais and Newman," in Smarthistory, December 8, 2015, accessed September 17, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/representation-and-abstraction-looking-at-millais-and-newman/.