Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Expressions in Color highlights modern paintings and works on paper from the museum's permanent collection that consider the expressive language of color. This installation focuses on several stylistic movements, such as the German expressionist Der Blaue Reiter artists who believed in the spiritual qualities of color, evoking a mystical significance through brilliant hues. Other artists investigated the functions of pure color. The Color Field painters of the 1950s explored solid, flat areas of color, oftentimes absorbed directly into the unprimed canvases, and how color placement can create both dynamic and subtle movement. This selection of artists includes Karel Appel, Max Beckmann, Charles Burchfield, Helen Frankenthaler, Gabriele Münter, David Park, Mark Rothko, and many others.