Beta nu 1960 is one of the largest Unfurleds, the series of paintings Morris Louis considers to be his most ambitious works.^[1] He began the series in the summer of 1960, and finished early in 1961, following the earlier Veils and a series of experimental groups—the Florals, Columns, Omegas and Japanese banners—painted during the winter of 1959–60. Beta nu is one of his most striking works. The quality and combination of colours that cascade in from the left and right provide the initial attraction. The sheer expanse of white is startling. But it is only in the presence of the painting that its true monumentality and awe-inspiring nature may be felt: the sensation of being surrounded, the possibility of falling into a void of nothingness. As Christine Dixon observes, the bodily resonance set up by the large canvases is one of the extraordinary effects of encountering Louis’ paintings in reality, as opposed to seeing small reproductions.^[2]

In the six to eight months that Louis worked on the Unfurled series, he produced over 120 paintings, of which he destroyed approximately 40 because the blue colours were not fast.^[3] The Unfurleds, characterised by irregular rivulets of colour running diagonally from each side of the canvas leaving a blank centre, fall into two types: those with four or five broad bands of colour independent of each other, and those with 10 or more narrow bands that sometimes overlap. It is likely that the former type, of which Beta nu is an example, were painted earlier. The height of the paintings in the Unfurled series is similar, and governed by the standard-sized bolts of canvas that Louis used. Much variation occurs in the width, however, as he attempted to discover how great the blank central area could be while still retaining the tension between the two extremities, and going so far, according to John Elderfield, as to court failure.^[4] Beta nu, moreover, was produced in a domestic-sized space. As Edward Hanfling points out, it is difficult to imagine Louis’ process as he poured a new formula of Magna paint onto the ends of the seven-metre length unsized and unprimed cotton duck canvas, handling the weight of the material while controlling the flow of the turpentine-thinned paint.^[5]

It is almost as if [Beta nu] has been wrought from a single multi-coloured cord of many strands—as if the artist has tugged this from both sides, pulling it apart to form two banks of loose threads. There is the feeling of unravelling, of a push towards disunity.^[6]

Like the Veils, the Unfurleds were titled posthumously, with letters from the Greek alphabet used to identify the series. This method had a precedent in two Unfurleds titled Alpha and Delta by Louis himself for the 1960 exhibition at Bennington College, Vermont. The title Beta nu combines the second and twelfth letters of the Greek alphabet.

Michael Lloyd and Michael Desmond^[7]

^[1] Morris Louis’ appraisal of the Unfurleds was reported by Clement Greenberg to Michael Fried, see Michael Fried, Morris Louis, Harry N Abrams, New York, 1970, p 32.

^[2] Christine Dixon, ‘Morris Louis, Nexus II’, Artonview, no 64, Summer 2010–11, p 46.

^[3] Kenworth Moffett, ‘Morris Louis: Omegas and Unfurleds’, Artforum, vol 8, no 9, May 1970, pp 45, 46 n 3.

^[4] John Elderfield, writing in the catalogue for Louis’ exhibition at Hayward Gallery, London; see Morris Louis, Arts Council, London, 1974, p 57.

^[5] Edward Hanfling, ‘Morris Louis in Australia and New Zealand’, The Burlington Magazine, vol 151, no 1281, December 2009, pp 830–5, at p 830.

^[6] As above, p 831.

^[7] Adapted and updated from Michael Lloyd and Michael Desmond, European and American paintings and sculptures 1870–1970 in the Australian National Gallery, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1992, pp 300–2, by Steven Tonkin and Lucina Ward.