Karl Benjamin, #30, 1969. Oil paint on canvas; 68 x 68 in. Denver Art Museum: Funds generously provided in memory of J. Landis Martin by John and Lynne Boyer Family Foundation, Anna and John J. Sie
Foundation, William P. Butler Rev Trust, Topel Forman LLC, Craig Ponzio, El Pomar Foundation, Christoph Heinrich and Kira van Lil, Norman and Sunny Brownstein, Merle Chambers, Bon French, Robert and
Virginia Fuller, A. Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld, Ronald Otsuka, Julia Zimmer, and other donors. © Estate of Karl Benjamin

A key figure in hard-edge painting of the mid-1900s, Karl Benjamin experimented relentlessly with color and form in pursuit of beauty. #30 is a prime example of Benjamin’s triangle pattern paintings, a series created between 1966 and 1973. Based on an elaborate grid structure, these paintings feature right triangles in intense and vibrant color. Their repeating forms expand to create larger and more complex sequences of squares, diamonds, and chevrons, imbuing these works with a sense of rhythm and animation.