Voice of Fire

Voice of Fire is an acrylic on canvas painting made by American painter Barnett Newman in 1967. The purchase of Voice of Fire by the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa for its permanent collection in 1989 at a cost of $1.8 million caused a storm of controversy, as the painting consists only of a red stripe on a blue background. Some residents mocked the purchase with striped T-shirts and ties that mimicked the painting. A book called Voices of ... more

Voice of Fire is an acrylic on canvas painting made by American painter Barnett Newman in 1967. The purchase of Voice of Fire by the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa for its permanent collection in 1989 at a cost of $1.8 million caused a storm of controversy, as the painting consists only of a red stripe on a blue background. Some residents mocked the purchase with striped T-shirts and ties that mimicked the painting. A book called Voices of Fire: Art Rage, Power, and the State, edited by Bruce Barber, Serge Guilbaut and John O'Brian and published in 1996 by the University of Toronto Press, discusses the issues around the purchase of the painting. The webcomic Dinosaur Comics, by Toronto native Ryan North, suggested that the painting has become a household name among Ottawans on par with "The Mona Lisa, The Scream, Starry Night, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, [and American Gothic]." less