“Upstart XXII,” created by Paul Reed in 1966, is a distinguished example of the Color Field Painting movement, an art form known for its large fields of flat, solid color spread across the canvas, creating an area of unbroken surface and a flat picture plane. The genre of this artwork is abstract, meaning it does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of visual reality but instead uses shapes, colors, forms, and gestural marks to achieve its effect.
The artwork presents a series of bold, diagonal stripes that intersect and overlap, creating a rhythmic and dynamic composition. The colors vary widely in hue and intensity, ranging from deep blues and greens to vibrant oranges and reds, contrasted with segments of crisp white. The colors are applied in a way that emphasizes their purity and the flatness of the canvas, a typical characteristic of the Color Field movement. The stripes appear to be carefully placed, with each color maintaining its distinct area within the composition, yet they collectively contribute to the overall sense of harmony and visual interest. Despite its abstract nature, the artwork may evoke the feeling of a landscape, as the juxtaposition of colors and angles may suggest a stylized representation of geographic features from an aerial perspective.
