Vir Heroicus Sublimis by Barnett Newman

Five vertical stripes, two narrow, three wide, in cadmium red. This is Vir Heroicus Sublimis, Newman’s largest canvas at the time. The red field is not uniform; brushstrokes thicken at the edges, bleeding into the raw linen margins. A single white zip cuts the expanse near the left, while a thinner ochre line hovers closer to the center, barely separating two zones of intensity. Hang it above a low credenza in a room with white walls and a single black chair—nothing else competes.