Student Artwork Guide
Copyright This work is still under copyright. Carmen Herrera died in 2022; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it remains in force until 2092. The image is shown here for classroom reference; rights remain with the rights holder.
In context
West — Carmen Herrera
Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 107 at death.
Painted when the artist was 50. The artist lived to 107. 2 of the 5 dated works by this artist in our catalogue came earlier.
Shaded: the lifetime of Carmen Herrera (1915–2022) ▲ this work, 1965 every dated painting, decade by decade
Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.
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Measured from the image
Main colour
Midnight Blue #1c3d8b
Catalogued palette
These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour
The ten leading countries
Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.
Together these works take 100.0% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 5 works by this artist, of which 4 were looked at at least once. This painting ranks 2 of them, with 20.0% of that attention (100 visits). The same counts, month by month
Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.
About this artwork
West — Carmen Herrera
Between 1948 and 1953, Carmen Herrera lived in Paris, where she began to develop her artistic production of concrete style. The artist recalls that it was during those years when she was finally able to feel free from academic restrictions and started to perceive pictorial space in a different way. In New York, where she lived from 1954 until her death, she strengthened the basis of a pictorial style in which the creation of distinct color fields prevails. West belongs to a stage when her work stands out for the use of acute angles, the cancellation of hierarchies between planes, and the combination of only two colors. This cobalt blue and white painting shows two isosceles triangles meeting at a specific point near the center of the canvas. It is a precise composition which accounts for a thorough and methodical practice in line with the artist’s passion for architecture. Herrera stated: “I like straight lines, I like angles, I like order. In this chaos that we live in, I like to put some order. I guess that’s why I am a hard-edge painter, not a painter of geometric figures.”
Artist and museum
Born in Havana, Cuba
Born: Havana, Cuba (May 30, 1915)
Died: New York City, USA (February 12, 2022) – aged 106
Early artistic training began at age eight with private lessons from Federico Edelmann y Pinto.
Attended Marymount School in Paris in 1929, fostering an appreciation for art history and culture.
Studied architecture briefly at the Universidad de la Habana (1938-1939), influencing her later geometric style.
Developed a hard-edge, non-objective abstract style during her time in Paris in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Experimented with various materials and techniques, including solvent-based acrylic paints.
Her work is characterized by geometric shapes, bold colors, and a focus on formal simplicity.
Influenced by movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism.
Explored themes of symmetry, asymmetry, movement, rhythm, and spatial tension in her paintings.
Later works incorporated three-dimensional sculptural elements ("estructuras").
Exhibited in Havana in 1950 but faced a lack of audience receptiveness.
Moved to New York City in 1954, where her work initially went largely unrecognized.
Despite facing challenges as a Latin woman artist, she continued painting consistently for decades.
Gained significant international recognition late in life, starting in the late 1990s.
First solo exhibition in New York City after many years was at Lisson Gallery in 2010.
Major retrospective, *Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight*, at the Whitney Museum of American Art (2016-2017) brought her widespread acclaim.
Iberic (1949): A notable early work housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Blanco y Verde series (1959-1971): A significant body of work exploring figure/ground relationships and architectural principles.
Days of the Week: Series of seven vivid paintings.
Exhibitions at Stanhardt Gallery, numerous galleries in Europe, and major museums worldwide.
Public art installations, including Verde, que te quiero verde at the Blanton Museum of Art (2023).
Carmen Herrera is considered a pioneering figure in abstract and minimalist art.
Her late-career recognition highlights the challenges faced by women artists and artists from underrepresented backgrounds.
Her work demonstrates a commitment to formal rigor, geometric abstraction, and a unique artistic vision.
She inspired new generations of artists and continues to be celebrated for her contributions to art history.
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Look closely
West — Carmen Herrera
Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.
Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.
"West" by Carmen Herrera is recorded with a clear color presence saturation.
"West" has an augmented reality preview: the artwork's AR Preview page shows it in your own space on a compatible device.
The copyright answer for "West" by Carmen Herrera: the work is still protected by copyright. This determines whether reproductions of the image may be freely made.