Jeffrey Grunthaner writes about John Havens Thornton: A Survey of Paintings Spanning 50 years, 1964-2014 at Amstel Gallery New York inside The Yard, Flatiron. The show, curated by Laetitia Lina and Gregory de la Haba is on view through May 30, 2016.

Grunthaner writes: "Thornton's paintings, however reductive, are not minimalist… Thornton paints "transcendence" in two senses: as what is non-subjective, and as the limits of intellection—the unknown that becomes known while still remaining unknown. His work has more in common with Forrest Bess and Hilma af Klint than with [classmate] Frank Stella… [Thornton's] brick-like fields of color blur at the edges, as though rippling with some elusive secret."