开始 I

Newman saw Onement I as a breakthrough in his work. It features the first full incarnation of what he later called a 'zip', a vertical band of color. This motif would play a central role in many of his subsequent paintings. The painting's title is an archaic derivation of the word 'atonement', meaning, "the state of being made into one." For Newman, this unevenly painted zip on a flat field of color does not divide the canvas, rather it merges both sides, drawing in the audience to intensely experience the work both physically and emotionally. Some have compared the zips to Giacometti's slender figures, reinforcing Newman's own connections between his paintings and the viewer's body.