Bridget Riley

British, born 1931

Drift 2

Bridget Riley (British, born 1931). Drift 2, 1966. Synthetic emulsion on canvas, 91 1/2 x 89 1/2 inches (232.4 x 227.3 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1967 (K1967:5). © Bridget Riley. All rights reserved. 

© Bridget Riley 2023. All rights reserved.

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Drift 2

© Bridget Riley. All rights reserved.

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Drift 2

© Bridget Riley. All rights reserved.

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Drift 2, 1966

Artwork Details

Collection Highlight

Materials

emulsion on canvas

Measurements

support: 91 1/2 x 89 1/2 inches (232.41 x 227.33 cm); framed: 93 1/8 x 91 x 2 3/4 inches (236.54 x 231.14 x 6.99 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1967

Accession ID

K1967:5

Since the early 1950s, Bridget Riley has continually pursued the fallibility of the human eye in the Op artworks for which she is best known. During the 1960s, Riley became increasingly interested in exploring qualities of fast and slow motion, cool and warm pigments, static and active forms, and confined and open spaces. Initially, she used a restrained approach to color. In Drift No. 2, the precisely placed, wavy, vertical lines modulate from dark to light to dark again. Overall, they appear to vibrate and sway beyond the confines of the canvas. At the end of the 1960s, a trip to Egypt inspired Riley to abandon her stark palette, and she began incorporating bands of color and mosaic-like patterns into her work.

Label from Giant Steps: Artists and the 1960s, June 30–December 30, 2018

Other Works by This Artist