Edward Reep “Reticular Series #8” Monumental Abstract Diptych, Oil on Canvas

A monumental abstract oil on canvas by American artist Edward Reep (1918–2013), Reticular Series #8, presented as a dramatic two-panel diptych measuring an impressive 100 inches wide.

The painting is a remarkable collision of color, geometry, and expressive gesture. Reep builds the composition from broad passages of turquoise and pale blue, burnt orange, ochre, deep green, black, and brilliant yellow. These larger fields are overlaid with an intricate web of fine diagonal lines, grids, translucent layers, and fractured geometric forms. The result is simultaneously controlled and energetic—the rigid architectural framework continually interrupted by sweeping, organic passages of paint.

The title Reticular Series is particularly appropriate. “Reticular” describes a net-like or interconnected structure, and Reep repeatedly employs grids and crossing linear elements that appear to stretch across and bind together the otherwise explosive composition. At close range, the painting reveals an extraordinary density of detail; from a distance, these individual marks resolve into a powerful, almost architectural whole.

The diptych format heightens this tension. While the two canvases form a continuous composition, the central division remains visually present, creating another strong vertical element within Reep’s network of lines. The left panel is especially active and gestural, with intersecting lines cutting through layered passages of blue, green, orange, and black. The right introduces an extraordinary field of saturated yellow alongside massive areas of black, turquoise, and earth tones, giving the overall composition both weight and visual balance.

At 54 inches high by 100 inches wide overall, Reticular Series #8 has exceptional presence. Its panoramic proportions and sophisticated palette make it particularly compelling alongside important Mid-Century Modern and postwar furnishings, where the painting functions not simply as decoration but as a major architectural element within a room.

Edward Reep was an accomplished American painter and educator whose career stretched across much of the 20th century. He is particularly notable for having served as a U.S. Army combat artist during World War II, documenting the Italian campaign before developing a long postwar career as an artist and teacher. His later abstract work demonstrates the same fascination with structure, spatial relationships, movement, and visual tension evident in Reticular Series #8.

Signed “Reep” lower right and titled on the stretcher.

Artist: Edward Reep (American, 1918–2013)
Title: Reticular Series #8
Medium: Oil on canvas
Form: Diptych
Signature: Signed lower right “Reep”; titled on the stretcher
Dimensions: Each panel: 54 H × 49.5 W in.
Overall framed dimensions: 54 H × 100 W × 2.25 D in.