About This Artwork

On Kawara
American, born Japan 1933

Oct. 31, 1978 (Today Series, "Tuesday"), 1978

Acrylic on canvas and newspaper
155 x 226 cm (61 x 89 in.)

Twentieth-Century Purchase Fund, 1980.2a-b

Contemporary Art
Gallery 294

Oct. 31, 1978 is one of more than two thousand “date paintings” that On Kawara has produced since 1966. Though they vary in size, each work shares a similar format—the specific date, which is painted without the use of stencils in white, occupies a central location on the monochromatic canvas and is the painting’s sole image. Utilizing the language of the country where he painted the canvas, Kawara either completes each work on the day emblazoned on its surface or destroys it. While usually not exhibited, a newspaper accompanies every work to document the date and location of its execution. Deceptively simple, Oct. 31, 1978, like all of Kawara’s date paintings, both records and celebrates the simple fact that the artist, and his creative energies, existed at this point in time.