Beta Lambda
1961
8′ 7 3/8″ x 13′ 4 1/4″
Magna on canvas

This piece was part of Louis’ “Unfurled” series. There were a total of 117 pieces in this series and all of them were made on unstreched canvas. Every piece is characterized by multiple colors from each edge of the canvas flowing downwards. There is an empty white V in all of the pieces as well.

Addition IV
1959
100 x 218 in
Magna on canvas

This piece was included in a series of work done by Louis entitled “Variations and Themes.” This series was very similar to Louis’ body of work entitled “Veils.” Louis would stain the canvas much like Helen Frankenthaler and allow the colors to overlap, mix, and essentially create their own paintings.

Blue Veil
1958
91 3/4 x 155 in
Magna on canvas

This is one of Morris Louis’ most famous paintings as well as iconic paintings. It was part of his “Veil” series which included over 115 different pieces of work. Louis began this series in the mid 50’s and revisited it later in life (late 60’s). Louis created this piece in layers. He would apply one color to the raw canvas, let it draw and than apply another, he would continue until he got his desired result.

Russet
1958
92 3/4 x 173 1/2 in
Magna on canvas

This was also apart of Louis’ “Veil” series. One characteristic of these works is that Louis would turn them upside-down when he would put them in a gallery. This would make it seem as if the paint within the raw canvas was traveling upwards (the obvious pour site was on the bottom which was characterized by the heavy paint near the edge).