A Chronology of Site-Specific Projects by David Novros

Beginning with a fresco commissioned by Donald Judd for the late artist’s New York studio in 1970, David Novros’s career has been punctuated by projects that build on his concept of the painted place. The artist traveled through Europe aged twenty-one and was deeply moved by the frescoes in Italian churches, Paleolithic wall paintings, and Spanish palaces he encountered, and was inspired to pursue commissions informed by their architectural context. Although he is better known publicly for his multipartite canvases, these works continue to be informed by his ongoing practice in wall painting.

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no title / 101 Spring Street, 1970, pigments ground in water on a wall made out of sand and calcium carbonate, 162 × 204 inches (411.5 × 518.2 cm). Photo: Adam Bartos

1970

Fresco, Judd Foundation, 101 Spring Street, New York, NY

Photo: James Mathews. Courtesy The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York

1972

Fresco, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Installed as part of Projects: Richard Tuttle and David Novros, 1972

1973

Fresco, Burgunder House, Fire Island, NY

Photo: Hickey-Robertson, Houston. Courtesy of the Menil Archives, The Menil Collection, Houston

1973 – 1975               

Room paintings, Rice University, Houston, TX

Three rooms installed with oil on canvas paintings for Novros, Marden, Rothko: Painting in the Age of Actuality, 1975

Room 1: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX

Rooms 2 & 3: The Menil Collection, Houston, TX

Courtesy The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

1975                           

Fresco, Pennzoil Oil Corporation, Houston, TX

Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.

Photo: Adam Bartos

1977                           

Fresco, Gooch Auditorium, University of Texas Health Science Center, Dallas, TX

1981                           

Fresco and stained glass windows, Doumani House, Venice, CA

1983 – 1984               

Fresco, Former Miami Federal Courthouse, Miami, FL

1984                           

Solar Triptych, Newark Train Station, NJ

Paint on aluminum with photovoltaic array

1990                           

Mural, School of the Arts, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

Photo: Adam Bartos

1996–1997                           

Painted windows and metal wall piece, Gross House, Winslow, AZ

Photo: Joanna Pousette-Dart

1996 – 2003               

Painted Boathouse, Middleburgh, NY

Oil on plaster on four walls

Photo: Steven Graham

2007                           

Mural, Robert Graham studio, Venice, CA

Collection of Museum Wiesbaden, Germany

2007                           

Fresco, Robert Graham studio, Venice, CA

Photo: Museum Wiesbaden / Bernd Ficker

2012–2016

Salidas, painted panels, Wiesbaden Museum, Germany

All images © 2021 David Novros / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

For additional images and information contact daisy@paulacoopergallery.com