Spirituality and the Ethics of Inspiration

Look for a minute, then a minute longer. The surface of the canvas bears no trace of a brushstroke, no trace of the artist’s hand. What do you see? Some viewers see two blue rectangles, one horizontal and the other vertical, crossing in the direct center of the canvas. Do you? If it is there, perhaps it calls to mind the cross of Christianity. But, because it is a square canvas, it is not the same as the Christian cross, which has the vertical axis longer than the horizontal. Abstract Painting, therefore, resembles yet refutes the religious symbol. This mode of negation—the trace of the painter’s labor and of religious symbols—is one way that numerous spiritual traditions preserve the infiniteness of the God, creator, or spiritual figure. Throughout his life, Ad Reinhardt studied spirituality extensively but refused to commit himself to one tradition. By utilizing the techniques exemplified in this work, he reaches toward his obsession: infinite, unlimited, pure painting.

—Callum Tresnan ‘23

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