PhotoThe Star of David may look the same upside-down as it does right-side-up, but the same can’t be said of a painting by the American Color Field artist Morris Louis that implements the Jewish symbol, and for years has potentially been viewed in flipped-over form. The work, now on display with the title “Man Reaching for a Star” in an exhibition at the Jewish Museum, was until recently referred to as “Untitled (Jewish Star).” The painting had been displayed in the museum under its previous title twice before, once in 1997 and again in an exhibition that ran for several years beginning in 2003. “We got into this fascinating discussion, looking at this painting anew,” Claudia J. Nahson, a curator at the museum, said in a phone interview. Another curator, Stephen Brown, described a group standing around the painting in the museum’s storeroom, considering how the piece was originally intended to be shown. “It’s often difficult to know which way up the painting should be,” he said.

Source: New York Times January 28, 2018 23:55 UTC