In his large-scale canvases, which featured strong structures, hard edges, and unconventional shapes, Harvey Quaytman (1937–2002) challenged the rules of art and redefined its material aspects. Like Ron Gorchov, Quaytman used unusual canvas shapes to produce works that reside in a space between the second and the third dimensions. Among Quaytman’s inspirations was the curvature of bird and airplane wings, and during the 1960s and 70s, he gradually distanced himself from the use of conventional rectangular and
square canvases. The process of finding the right shape for a piece was time consuming, and could sometimes go on for years. During the 1970s, Quaytman continued his deep dive into abstract methods, and began experimenting with a variety of pigments in combination with rust, which had already become one of his signature mediums. While Quaytman did return to more conventional canvas shapes in the 1980s, this was also when he began to use the cross-shaped format that would come to be his main focus for the subsequent decade. Quaytman began his creative process by powdering pigment over the paint and then proceeded to spread it out in thin layers until he achieved the desired results. French Feather Blanket consists of two patches of colour, one of which is yellow and glossy, with a textured surface, and the other of which is a smooth, matt blue. The shape of the canvas demonstrates Quaytman’s bold idiom, his willingness to
experiment, and his practice of breaking with habitual patterns as a
path to growth.

Harvey Quaytman was born to a family of Polish and Russian Jewish
immigrants in New York in 1937. Quaytman studied at the Syracuse University in New York, but earned his degrees from the School of
the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston. His career
spanned three decades and saw him produce over sixty solo exhibitions. Quaytman passed away in New York in 2002. Today, his works are represented in private collections, as well as in the collections of institutions like the MoMA, the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Neuberger Museum of Art, and Tate Modern.