Exploring Theodoros Stamos' Abstract Expressionism

“New Field” by Theodoros Stamos is part of the “Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection of the University of Arizona” exhibition at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. The artwork is part of this exhibition because Mr. Gallagher donated it. The exhibition featured several pieces of work that all used color and lines to produce the essence of scenery. The artwork depicts Theodoros Stamos’ abstract expressionist style, where he uses a distinguished set of colors on a large flat canvas.

According to an article published in the New York Times, Theodoros Stamos was a Greek American artist who was one of the pioneers for expressionistic painters. Although he was a generation behind Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, making him the youngest, he is considered part of the original group of abstract expressionist painters. The “New field” artwork is part of Stamos’s Infinity Field Lefkada Series, a series he work on that included a large variety of paintings all that took color and lines to create scenery. Theodoros Stamos attended New York’s American Artists’ School after receiving a full scholarship to study sculpture, but in 1939 he dropped out to pursue a concentration in painting. He received his first solo exhibition in 1943 and soon after became an

established member of the abstract expressionist.
“New Field” is an oil painting on canvas that uses darker colors such as red, black, brown, green and yellow in geometric rectangular patterns. In the center of the canvas there are a series of horizontal lines in black oil that capture the attention of the audience. In addition, each of the colors takes on a set of lines using a series of brushstrokes. Each area in which the colors are situated either take on a geometric or organic shape. For instance the color brown utilizes a geometric vertical rectangle while the color red uses and organic shape that is unrestrained and acutely chaotic. The value of the work is rather dark and the amount of light in the painting is minimal, which may mean that Stamos was trying to produce a gloomy mood. However, due to the light of the University of Arizona Museum of Art the colors seem to appear more vibrant than without the light. The artwork uses a mix of both primary and secondary colors. The primary colors uses are red and yellow. However the yellow must have been mixed with a subtractive color due to the fact that the yellow is darker and duller. The secondary colors present are green, brown, and black. The value of the secondary colors are darker that range at the thirty to forty percent level. Since the art is not performance art there is not actual motion or time being displayed.
There are several principals of design present in “New Field”. The artwork has variety rather than unity due to the fact that if only one side of the artwork was shown the opposite sides colors, hues, and shapes would not be predictable. In addition, the artwork is balanced in the fact that it seems to have some symmetrical balance. For example, the areas and shapes depicted in yellow weigh out the area in yellow. However, the back, green, and brown areas have an asymmetrical balance to them. The asymmetrical areas may give off disturbed feelings.
Stamos’s artwork “New Field” depicts expressionist values due to the fact that he easily portrays emotion through the use of colors and shapes.

In addition, his brushstrokes enforce a rather mixed mood, one. However his art may not be non-objective due to the fact that around this time period of 1957, Stamos was painting emotions in relation to nature and the nature vibe is clearly seen with the use of colors and therefore the artwork is not non-objective because it does depict a recognizable subject. The use of green and brown can be related to trees, while yellows the sun. Overall, the artwork sticks to expressionist values while giving off a disheartened mood due to the brushstrokes and color

choices.