Third Station

The National Gallery of Art, Washington (the USA).

Canvas, oil.

The Third Station is part of a grandiose Newman’s series of fourteen parts. The name refers to the cry of Christ on the cross, but the author also intended to express the cries of all mankind throughout the tragic history of its existence. The series is characterized by a contrasting palette of black and white on unpainted canvases. Newman wanted the pristine canvas to “show” its colour. The works of the series expand the artist’s use of his distinctive sign – lightning strips. Some look perfectly straight, while others seem nervous and excited, and others are aggressive. The creation of the cycle took eight years — Newman himself said he could not plan the picture, “I could not do them automatically, all at once, one after another … I started to work when I got a spontaneous desire to paint the next one”.