With a strong diagonal structure highlighted by subtle value shifts and crisp geometries, Untitled, 1977 is a prime example of Anuszkiewicz’ mature work from a productive decade in which he mounted seven solo exhibitions. You may be tempted to call this painting abstract but as a colorist Anuszkiewicz’s concerns about figure-ground movement are more akin to traditional painting, both of which share a reliance on the illusion of depth through manipulation of color relationships. Constructed of opposing 60 degree triangles in subtly shifting yellow, pink, and white, Anuszkiewicz optically plays visual games between the diagonal, horizontal, and vertical bands that overlay the base color.

Anuszkiewicz studied color theory with Josef Albers at the Yale University School of Art and, along with Bridget Riley, and Julian Stanczak, was a founding exponent of an illusionistic style of painting, begun by Victor Vasarely, that became known collectively as Op-Art.

Important early exhibitions of his work, cementing his stature as one of the preeminent American Op artists, include Recent American Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1961, Geometric Abstraction in America, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York 1962, Americans 1963, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1963, and Museum of Modern Art’s 1965 exhibition The Responsive Eye. Solo exhibitions at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1967, 1969 and 1973 solidified his place in the market and he remains a highly sought after artist into the 21st century.