The Chatham Series marks a pivotal moment in Ellsworth Kelly's career, embodying a significant transition both geographically and artistically for the artist. In 1970, Kelly moved from New York City to Spencertown in upstate New York, and shortly after, he began working on this series in a studio he found in nearby Chatham, a space once a theater, offering him more room than any studio he had previously occupied. This move allowed Kelly a greater degree of freedom and space to explore new directions in his work (The Museum of Modern Art).
This series consists of 14 paintings, each characterized by an inverted L-shape made of two joined canvases, with each canvas painted in a monochrome color. The precise attention Kelly paid to the proportion of each panel and the selection of colors resulted in a harmonious balance and contrast between the two parts of each piece. This method of joining monochrome canvases to create multi-panel works was something Kelly first developed while in Paris during the early 1950s, and it has remained a consistent aspect of his practice (The Museum of Modern Art) (Wikipedia).
The Chatham Series was first exhibited in its entirety in 1972 at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY, and had not been reunited until 2013, when The Museum of Modern Art in New York presented the series in celebration of Kelly's 90th birthday. This exhibition provided a unique opportunity to explore a key moment in Kelly’s artistic development, showcasing his abstract vocabulary of line, form, and color that he had begun developing during his earlier years in Paris (The Museum of Modern Art) (Hamptons Art Hub).
Kelly's time in Chatham was not just a period of geographic change but represented a deeper introspection and experimentation within his artistic journey. Leaving the bustling art scene of New York City for the tranquility of upstate New York allowed Kelly to delve into the "anonymous" work he aspired to create, aiming to conceal any trace of personal gesture in his canvases and continuing his exploration of multi-panel works. The Chatham Series stands as a testament to this period of exploration and redefinition in Kelly’s work (Hamptons Art Hub).