Black Ball in a Room
June Wayne
Oil on canvas (destroyed by the Artist),1947.
COMMENT
The painting “Black Ball in a Room” and the lithograph of the same name reflect June Wayne’s early interest in optics and the perception of the human eye and brain. As happened on many occasions, however, she was not satisfied with either work and years later destroyed the painting and all remaining prints of the lithograph in her possession. The seminal nature of her researches has been widely recognized nonetheless, and ironically the lithograph was prominently featured by th Whitney Museum in its 2021 exhibit “Labyrinth of Forms: Women and Abstraction 1930-1950”, an orphan print existing in its permanent collection.
In the words of Jules Langsner of Artnews, “Through the careful choice of significant textures reminiscent of night stars, cobblestones, prison walls and tesellated ceramic ceilings, she establishes a state of ambiguous anxiety.”
—June Wayne, from Robert P. Conway, “A Catalogue Raisonné 1936-2006, June Wayne: The Art of Everything” Rutgers University Press, 2007.
Black Ball in a Room
June Wayne
Lithograph (destroyed by the Artist),1950.
Sketch for Black Ball in a Room
June Wayne
3 x 4 3/4 in.
Pencil and ink on paper, 1948;
The Law Court
June Wayne, Justice Series
36 x 50 in.
Oil on canvas, 1951.
Black Ball in a Room
The Law Court
Black Ball in a Room (Lithograph)
Sketch for Black Ball in a Room