Seven Red Squares
Irene Rice Pereira
(American, 1902–1971)
1951
Medium/Techniqueoil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 101.6 × 127 cm (40 × 50 in.)
Credit LineGift of Deborah and Ed Shein in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Accession number2019.2204
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
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A central figure among New York’s abstract artists in the 1930s and 40s, Pereira is known for her innovative works of geometric abstraction. Here, overlapping layers of green, blue, and black rectilinear forms and lines are punctuated with seven small red squares. The resulting composition creates the illusion of a deep picture plane, reflecting Pereira’s interest in theories of perception. In other paintings, she used industrial materials such as glass, plastic, and radium paint to experiment with optical effects of light and reflection.
Pereira’s artistic practice drew upon her deep belief in abstract art’s potential to impact society. In 1935, she helped found the Design Laboratory, a cooperative school of industrial design influenced by the Bauhaus school in Germany.NOTE: The painting was first shown at Durlacher in 1951. Durlacher lent it to the exhibition "Loren McIver - I. Rice Pereira" (Whitney Museum of American Art, Des Moines Art Center, San Francisco Museum of Art, and Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1953), cat. no. 41.
