Like many other American artists, Ray Parker appreciated jazz. A trumpet player as well as a painter, he claimed that his approach to painting was an improvisational, musical one. Floating over large areas of contrasting color, his dynamic, eccentrically shaped forms activate the composition like sustained tones filling a quiet room. The large scale of Untitled recalls the vast open spaces of South Dakota, where the artist was born, while the bright, bold hues bring to mind the vibrant colorism of Henri Matisse (1869-1954).
