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Jensen’s highly respected but rarely seen paintings elaborate his comsological theories, drawing on the sciences of astronomy, physics, and mathematics, and frequently involving Mayan and Chinese calendrical systems. Included are large-scale multi-part paintings that span the artist’s mature career beginning in 1960. among the highlights of the exhibition is Great Pyramid (1980), a key late work never before exhibited publicly.
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| Checklist of Works |
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1. A Quadrilateral Oriented Vision, Per I–Per VI, 1960
oil on canvas
6 panels, each 84 x 50 inches
Courtesy The Sam Francis Estate, Los Angeles
2. Parthenon, 1962
oil on canvas
74 x 50 inches
Courtesy Max Protetch Gallery, New York
3. Mayan Temple, Per II: Palenque, 1962
oil on canvas
54.25 x 68.25 inches
Collection Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art,
The University of Texas, Austin
4. Square II Growth, 1968
oil on canvas
72 x 72 inches
Estate of Alfred Jensen.
Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
5. Square XXI Growth, 1968
oil on canvas
70.5 x 70.5 inches
Estate of Alfred Jensen.
Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
6. The Ten Thousand Things, 1972
oil on canvas
60.5 x 138 inches
Private Collection
7. Das Bild der Sonne: The Square’s Duality, Progression and Growth, and
Squaring the 360 Day Calendar, 1966
oil on canvas
84 x 336 inches
Collection of Michael and Judy Ovitz, Los Angeles
8. The Sun Rises Twice, Per I–Per IV, 1973
oil on canvas
96 x 192 inches
Collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Joseph H. Hirshhorn Purchase Fund, 1990.
9. Where the Gods Reside, Per I–Per VIII, 1968
oil on canvas
94 x 376 inches
Estate of Alfred Jensen.
Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
10. Twelve Events in a Dual Universe, 1978
oil on canvas
108 x 288 inches
Estate of Alfred Jensen.
Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
11. The World as It Really Is, 1977
oil on canvas
86 x 240 inches
Estate of Alfred Jensen.
Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
12. The Great
Pyramid, 1980
oil on canvas
90 x 360 inches
Estate of Alfred Jensen.
Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
13. Remote Sensing, Per I & II, 1979
oil on canvas
86 x 96 inches
Estate of Alfred Jensen.
Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
14. Physical Optics, 1975
oil on canvas
86 x 153 inches
Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York
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| Selected Bibliography |
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Alfred Jensen: Concordance. New York: Dia Center for the Arts, forthcoming. Texts by David Anfam, Lynne Cooke, and Michael Newman.
Alfred Jensen: Paintings. New York: Pace Gallery, 1991. Text by Alfred Jensen.
Alfred Jensen: Paintings and Works on Paper. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 1985. Texts by Thomas M. Messer, Maria Reidelbach, and Peter Schjeldahl.
Alfred Jensen: The Late Work. New York: Pace Gallery, 1984. Text by Alfred Jensen.
Alfred Jensen: Paintings and Diagrams from the Years 1957–1977. Buffalo: Albright-Knox Gallery, in association with the XIV Biennial of São Paulo, 1978. Texts by Linda L. Cathcart and Marcia Tucker.
Alfred Jensen. Basel: Kunsthalle, 1975. Texts by Alfred Jensen and Carlo Huber.
Alfred Jensen. Hannover: Kestner-Gesellschaft, in association with Kunsthalle Bern, 1973. Texts by Max Bill, Alfred Jensen, Allan Kaprow, and Wieland Schmied.
Alfred Jensen. Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum, 1964. Texts by Alfred Jensen and Eberhard W. Kornfeld.
Alfred Jensen. Bern: Kornfeld and Klipstein, 1963. Texts by Alfred Jensen and Eberhard W. Kornfeld.
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| Biography |
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Born in 1903 in Guatemala City, Alfred Jensen studied fine art in San Diego (1924–1925), Munich (1926–1927), and Paris (1929). After traveling extensively throughout Europe and northern Africa, Jensen took up residency in New York in the early 1950s, after which he devoted himself to painting full time. He exhibited widely following his first solo show at John Heller Gallery in New York in 1952. Among numerous group exhibitions, he was included in the Venice Biennial (1964), Documenta IV (1968) and Documenta V (1972), the Whitney Biennial (1973, 1977), the São Paulo Biennial (1977), and “Bilderstreit” (1989). One-person exhibitions included venues such as the Guggenheim Museum, New York (1961), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1964), Kunsthalle Basel (1975), and the Newark Art Museum (1994). Traveling retrospective tours were organized in 1973 by the Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover (traveled to Humlebaek, Baden-Baden, Düsseldorf, and Bern), and in 1978 by the Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo (traveled to New York, Chicago, La Jolla, Boulder, and San Francisco). Four years after Jensen’s death in 1981, the Guggenheim Museum initiated a major retrospective of his work.
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| Funding |
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Support for this exhibition has been provided by The Henry Luce Foundation and the members of the Dia Art Council.
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