The art of Norman Lewis is often classified into two periods: pre and post-abstraction. Like many twentieth century painters, Lewis experienced a shift in his artistic style in the mid-1940s following the Second World War. For Lewis, though, the complexities of his approach extended beyond politics and social change. Establishing his identity as an artist of color in the post-war period is a pervasive theme across his oeuvre, and one that scholars turn to continuously in discussions of his relationship to abstraction.

Born in 1909, Lewis lived the majority of his life in Harlem. He first realized he wanted to pursue art after watching a woman paint on the streets of his neighborhood (Ruth Fine, Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis, Philadelphia, 2016, p. 22). Although largely self-taught, Lewis received mentorship from sculptor Augusta Savage from 1933-35 and surrounded himself with Harlem Renaissance-generation artists in his early years. Proximity to the 306 Workshop Group, also referred to as the Harlem Art Workshop, connected Lewis with the likes of Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden, during which t.mes he developed a passion for promoting the careers of his fellow black artists. Lewis’ pictures from the 1930s are subsequently grounded in the Social Realist style, incorporating Jazz, African sculpture, and Cubist motifs—as was popular among Harlem-based artists. As a founding member of the Harlem Artists Guild and a Federal Art Project (WPA) teacher in the mid-1930s, his association with Social Realism proved inseparable from Lewis’ artistic identity in the pre-war years.

Beginning in the 1940s, however, Lewis began to distinguish himself from the realism in favor of abstraction. He discussed his aesthetic evolution in a 1946 thesis, in which he asserted his desire to “be publicly first an artist,” defying the opinion of critics who believed his art should serve to promote and champion the Harlem community (Norman Lewis, “Thesis, 1946,” p. 63). Executed circa 1949, White on Beige is emblematic of the lyricism and rhythm evident in Lewis’ body of work following his shift toward abstraction. In the present work, non-representational forms converge in carefully layered applications, creating spherical arrangements as they orbit one another. Although the title alludes to the painting’s palette rather than its subject matter, similar works from the period indicate that Lewis was looking to nature, architecture and music for inspiration. Snow in the City, for example, dated the same year, differs in its vertically-oriented arrangement, likely to convey the falling of snow (see fig. 2). Although White on Beige possesses a more circular, meandering configuration, the dynamic layering of white forms carefully outlined in black evokes a musical rhythm that is reminiscent of Lewis’ historic engagement with Jazz.

Forever in search of new cultural influences, Lewis drew inspiration from traditional modes of East Asian painting as well. He and fellow artist Hale Woodruff are recorded as discussing Japanese art in the late 1940s, and Lewis even owned a copy of Chiang Yee’s The Chinese Eye: An Interpretation of Chinese Painting in his personal library (Tetsuya Shima, Norman Lewis: Looking East, New York, 2018, p. 8). Written with a Western reader in mind, Yee’s text examines the origin and styles of Chinese painting (see fig. 3). There is a fleeting, atmospheric quality to works such as White on Beige that recalls Japanese or Chinese sumi painting. The faint presence of black pigment veiled by a robust laying of gestural white pigments imparts a calligraphic element into the present subject (see fig. 4). Beyond Lewis’ infatuation with Japanese and Chinese visual art, Marian Willard, who represented Lewis for fifteen years at Marian Willard Gallery, is also credited with introducing Lewis to Buddhism (ibid., p. 11). The reduced palette and harmonious simplification of forms evident in White on Beige ultimately contribute to this feeling of a balanced composition, thereby conjuring the core principles of Buddhism.

As much as Lewis looked to a wide range of cultural practices in search of artistic inspiration, his embrace of abstraction in the 1940s was largely the result of his immediate surroundings. Lewis became acquainted with Ad Reinhardt through their shared involvement in the WPA. A staunch defender of the purity of abstraction, Reinhardt, too, valued East Asian philosophy and sought a simplification of form in his art. In Number 107, dated 1950, Reinhardt layers his white pigments such that two dominant shades emerge in a manner that is extremely reminiscent to White on Beige (see fig. 5). Beyond his contemporaries, Lewis was also very familiar with earlier titans of modern art, both abstract and otherwise. Through frequent visits to The Museum of Modern Art to study their permanent collects ion, Lewis became acquainted with nineteenth century masters like Claude Monet, and early twentieth century trailblazers such as Piet Mondrian (see fig. 6).

In recent years, Lewis and his contributions to the Abstract Expressionist movement have finally gained recognition both institutionally and in the commercial art space. Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis, which traveled to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Replica Handbags s, Amon Carter, and the Chicago Cultural Center from 2016-17 was the first comprehensive museum overview of the artist. Today, he is recognized for his contributions to Abstract Expressionism alongside Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and others. Additionally, the artist’s top three prices at auction have all been achieved in the past five years, signaling a growing strength in the Lewis market.

By transitioning from realist subjects to abstraction in the 1940s, Lewis paved the way for future generations of abstract painters. More specifically, as an early advocate that artists of color should not be limited to certain genres (such as social realism) within the modern art space, Lewis shaped the twentieth century art world for other black artists. Like Lewis, Alma Thomas, for instance, began her artistic career painting in a realist manner; however, her mature works are extremely rhythmic, abstract compositions. Her technique boasts a Pointillist influence through her careful application of colorful strokes (see fig. 7). Their is a repetitive and balanced quality to works such as Red Rose Cantata (1973) that recalls the simplicity of White on Beige.

Just one year after the artist's death, White on Beige was acquired by the current owner through his wife, Ouida Lewis. It has remarkably remained in the same private collects ion since it first left the Lewis' possession. This is the work's first appearance at auction having remained in private hands for more than forty years.