Curled Figure Study XIX
2002

When Robert Mangold painted Curled Figure Study XIX, he was producing compositions limited to four basic elements: the ring shape, the curled line, the column, and so-called column structures. Here, the curled double line is traced in a pattern crossing the two congruent panels—an extension which binds the two halves together into a single, flowing graphic element. Mangold has long conceived of his paintings through drawings, and most of his painted surfaces, including Curled Figure Study XIX, contain passages of hand-drawn graphite. But Mangold does not use these lines in a naturalistic or representational manner, instead preferring—as was the case for a number of artists of his generation, including Sol LeWitt and Robert Ryman—to create simple forms that refer only to themselves.