Angelo Ippolito (American, b. Italy, 1922–2001), Drawing No. 14, Black and White, 1956. Oil on paper on canvas, 70 1/2 × 49 in. (179.07 × 124.46 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley. M1965.123.
Ippolito, who emigrated from Italy as a child, helped usher in the downtown New York arts scene by co-founding the influential Tanager Gallery in 1952, earning him the moniker "Mr. Tenth Street." He was a close friend of Tenth Street photographer, Saul Leiter, with whom he shared a philosophy of art-making as both a process and a way of life.
Reducing his palette to just black, white, and grey, Ippolito created a dynamic push-pull of color focused around the center of the composition. The brown paper support creates further tension between the figure and the ground.
