Bridget Riley
Study for “Deny”
1965
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Bridget Riley
Study for “Deny”
1965
Physical Qualities
Opaque watercolor, Sheet: 508 x 686 mm. (20 x 27 in.)
Credit Line
Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection
Object Number
1970.4.13
In this study for a larger painting (see below), Bridget Riley explores subtle color variations and rotating oval forms that cause viewers to question which colors are in front of the other. This is a classic element of Op (optical) Art, in which movement and vibration are conveyed through geometric patterns and contrasts of color. Drawings are often the first step in the process toward a finished work and, as such, are a direct reflection of the artist’s intention. Here, Riley is working out a pattern that will become an exacting painting, but in this study, she is not concerned with absolute precision. The brushstrokes visible at the edges of the composition give viewersa sense of the hand of the artist—often less visible in the final work—and one of the ways drawings can reveal a lot about artistic process.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1970; Mr. Edward Benesch, NY, 1970; New School for Social Research, NY; Richard L. Feigen & Co., NY, 1966; the artist
Hannover, Kunstverein, "Bridget Riley," 14 November - 20 December 1970 (toured to Bern, Düsseldorf, Turin), cat. 107.
London, Hayward Gallery, "Bridget Riley," (expanded version of Hannover exhibition), 20 July - 5 September 1971, cat. 115.
Victor Carlson (organized and circulated by the BMA), "19th and 20th Century Prints and Drawings from The Baltimore Museum of Art." E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, November 3 - December 2, 1973; Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, January 18 - February 17, 1974; The William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, April 2 - April 21, 1974, cat. 58.
Victor Carlson and Carol Hynning Smith, BMA, "Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries"; circulated by the American Federation of Arts to the Guggenheim Museum, NY, 24 August - 7 October 1979; Des Moines Art Center, 19 November 1979 - 6 January 1980; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 8 February - 16 March, 1980; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1 May - 22 June 1980 ; Denver Art Museum, 12 July - 24 August, 1980.
BMA, "Drawings from the Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 14 October - 12 December 1982.
BMA, "Selected Drawings from the Thomas E. Benesch Collection," 3 September - 1 December 1985.
BMA, "Drawings of the 1960s from the Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 17 November 1993 - 30 January 1994.
BMA, "Select Views: Drawings from the Benesch Collection," 21 May - 30 July 2006.
Ann Shafer, BMA, "On Paper: Drawings from the Benesch Collection," 18 November 2012 - 10 February 2013.
London, Hayward Gallery, "Bridget Riley," (expanded version of Hannover exhibition), 20 July - 5 September 1971, cat. 115.
Victor Carlson (organized and circulated by the BMA), "19th and 20th Century Prints and Drawings from The Baltimore Museum of Art." E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, November 3 - December 2, 1973; Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, January 18 - February 17, 1974; The William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, April 2 - April 21, 1974, cat. 58.
Victor Carlson and Carol Hynning Smith, BMA, "Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries"; circulated by the American Federation of Arts to the Guggenheim Museum, NY, 24 August - 7 October 1979; Des Moines Art Center, 19 November 1979 - 6 January 1980; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 8 February - 16 March, 1980; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1 May - 22 June 1980 ; Denver Art Museum, 12 July - 24 August, 1980.
BMA, "Drawings from the Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 14 October - 12 December 1982.
BMA, "Selected Drawings from the Thomas E. Benesch Collection," 3 September - 1 December 1985.
BMA, "Drawings of the 1960s from the Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 17 November 1993 - 30 January 1994.
BMA, "Select Views: Drawings from the Benesch Collection," 21 May - 30 July 2006.
Ann Shafer, BMA, "On Paper: Drawings from the Benesch Collection," 18 November 2012 - 10 February 2013.
"The Thomas Edward Benesch Memorial Collection," BMA, 1970, unpaginated.
Carlson, Victor, and Carol Hynning Smith. Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: The Baltimore Museum of Art. New York, NY: The American Federation of Arts, 1979, pp. 175, ill.
Inscribed: lower left in graphite: "Bridget Riley '66"
