Naum Gabo

Opus Six

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About this artwork

Gabo made five monoprints in 1950, then did not make another until 1955. He returned with spectacular success with this work, Opus Six. It was by far his largest and most ambitious monoprint to date. It was preceded by a drawing which is extremely close to the print, suggesting the use of a plastic template. It has been suggested that the drawing dates from 1950 - it is close to the construction made for the Baltimore Museum of Art stairwell at that time - and was put aside and returned to some five years later. Part of the image at the top has been ‘corrected’ by covering it in wax, so that it does not print. There are thirty-one recorded examples of this work.

Published September 2021

  • artist:
    Naum Gabo (1890 - 1977) RussianAmerican
  • title:
    Opus Six
  • date created:
    1955 - 1956
  • materials:
    Monoprint in brown ink on tissue paper
  • measurements:
    38.50 x 33.30 cm (image size); 48.00 x 40.00 cm (base material size)
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Accepted from Graham Williams under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government and allocated to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 2020
  • accession number:
    GMA 5655
  • gallery:
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Naum Gabo

Naum Gabo