Kanawa — Fine Art

Kanawa - 1956 by Leon Polk Smith shows bands of flat colour cut into clean rectangles. From across the room the bands read as a quiet rhythm. Up close the edges stay sharp, with no blending between the tones. You notice the hard edge painting method first, then the order of the colour planes.

A fine art print on matte paper lets the colours stay flat and even. On a pale wall a dark frame gives the rectangles a clear edge, and a light frame does the opposite on a dark wall.

In a dining room on the wall beside the sideboard, the rectangles line up with the room. From the table you see the full band pattern. Standing at the door you see the spacing between the colours. The hard edge print works on a kitchen wall too.