Theodoros Stamos (1922-1997)

White Field, No. 2 was originally housed in the noteworthy collection of the Post-War painter V.V. Rankine and was acquired directly from the artist in 1957, the year of its creation. An active participant in the 1950's New York art scene, Rankine acquired some of the best works of the period. According to Rankine, this painting was inspired by Stamos's trip to Paris, in which he saw a fire through a hotel window as can be believed considering the jagged flame red markings and smoke-like clouds of white. This painting was included in the landmark Abstract Expressionist survey, The New American Painting, organized by the Museum of Modern Art, which put the movement (and American art in general) at the forefront of the avant-garde. Underscoring its importance, it was one of only three works by Stamos illustrated in that groundbreaking exhibition catalogue.

"Painting at its best consists of truth to one's paint, to one's self and one's time, and most of all to one's God and one's dream." -Theodoros Stamos (as quoted in The New American Painting, p. 72)