Born in Asheville, South Carolina, in 1924, Kenneth Noland is today recognized as one of the most important contributors to Color Field painting. His father was, as Noland described, a “Sunday painter,” or amateur artist; his stock of brushes, paints and other materials allowed a young Noland to experiment with painting, and influenced his later decision to pursue art. In 1942, he graduated from high school and voluntarily joined the US Armed Forces, and spent almost four years in the Air Force. Following his time in military, he benefitted from the G.I. Bill by enrolling at Black Mountain College near his hometown. There, the remarkable faculty of artists exposed him to a broad array of artistic methods and modes; through Ilya Bolotowsky, Noland was introduced to geometric abstraction and Neo-Placticism, and through Josef Albers he discovered the work of Paul Klee. He spent approximately two years at Black Mountain College before, in 1948, he traveled to Paris, France, to study with the sculptor Ossip Zadkine—though Zadkine’s strict adherence to Cubism would ultimately alienate Noland. In reaction, Noland began focusing on color and form, influenced by his previous teachings from Albers. Upon his return to the US, he supported himself in the late 1940s and 1950s by teaching at various institutions in the Washington, DC area, and through his involvement in the arts scene of the city he met and befriended like-minded artists such as Morris Louis and David Smith. In 1953 Noland and Louis visited the New York studio of Helen Frankenthaler, escorted by Clement Greenberg. The day had a profound impact on the artist; Frankenthaler’s method of applying thin layers of pigment to raw, unprimed canvas would inspire Noland (and Louis) to later adopt this color-staining technique—the two artists would later be recognized as the primary pioneers of the Washington Color School.