Onement VI

Barnett Newman

‘There is a tendency to look at large pictures from a distance,’ Barnett Newman’s show notes begin. ‘The large pictures in this exhibition are intended to be seen from a short distance.’ Known for their large, vibrant fields of colour, parted by a single vertical ‘zip’ running down the centre; Newman’s ‘Onement’ series takes its name from archaic English, meaning ‘at one’. Only close range examination will allow viewers to truly appreciate its building, enveloping washes of ultramarine blue, and in turn the hand that produced them - measuring 8.5 by 10 feet, the extravagant size of Newman’s canvases was intended to provoke this curiosity.

Wednesday 19th August

The Moon rises in the constellation of Libra, carrying us into a day shaped by light, balance and relationship. Now waxing again, the Moon is slowly gathering brightness, just one week on from the extraordinary solar eclipse in some parts of Europe. when its darkened body passed before the Sun and daylight itself was briefly transformed. There is something beautiful in watching the light return night by night, reminding us that growth is rarely constant, but moves through cycles of obscurity, renewal and increasing strength. In the biodynamic garden, Libra is traditionally connected with the flowering forces of the plant, so today we can turn our attention towards flowers, pollinators and those plants preparing to set seed. The waxing Moon reminds us that after darkness, light does not return all at once, but gathers gradually.