Influenced by Joan Miró (1893-1983) and Paul Klee (1879-1940), Edmondson’s abstract paintings of the early 1950s are allover compositions in which biomorphic shapes float through an atmosphere of soft color. The slender jawbone element used throughout Ascendant Number was a favorite shape.
Edmondson’s palette consists of limpid hues of translucent rose, terra-cotta, pink, gray-blue, and yellow. The impression of constant movement through the composition is important, but its course is controlled. Edmondson’s art is concerned with cognition, and titles such as Interdependencies, Equivalent Restraint, and Ascendant Number demonstrate his interest in relationships, both conceptual and formal (the latter comprising space and color). His paintings and prints share a delicate line, a concern with the tonal gradations of textured backgrounds, and a refined elegance. In paintings exhibited at the California Water Color Society annuals beginning in the late 1940s, such as Ascendant Number, California artists abandoned the regional style for which they had become known and adopted an international aesthetic to which they brought their own interpretations.
