ABSTRACT
Raymond Jonson's painting changed considerably in the early 1950s, and these stylistic changes characterize the last twenty-five years of his career and constitute a late career style. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, as Jonson was mastering acrylics, he created numerous paintings in which rich, heavy textures made with thick, creamy application of this plastic paint medium became the most emphatic aspect of each work. His 1958 series Five Variations/Polymer Nos.14 to 18–1958 is a major early example of this. Two of the most visually engaging works from the 1970s are Polymer No. 22–;1970 and Polymer No.10–1977, which show these changes yet achieve the contemplative geometry that was integral to Jonson's most successful works. Jonson's career was one of unwavering determination and persistence, creative and inspired individuality, and a lasting monument to the unfaltering belief that all great art must be spiritual.
