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signed acrylic on canvas Executed in 1958. Tide is a powerful example of Noland's most important body of work, the concentric ring paintings. In the mid 1950s, together with Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler, Noland experimented with poured paint, staining his canvases with Magna. Mixing this acrylic-based paint with pure pigment allowed Noland to saturate the canvas with pure color. Applied in circles ranging from hard-edged to loosely brushed, the overall composition radiates with energy. Although the plane remains flat, the circles generate their own spiraling energy, activating the canvas without the use of impasto. Noland was primarily concerned with the painting's center; therefore, the innermost circle is invariably hard-edged, which attracts and holds the viewer's eye. The outermost circle is intentionally brushy in order to cushion the eye as it approaches the edge of the square canvas. Similarly, the swathes of color outside the primary composition serve to soften the retinal impact of Noland's intense colors. In key works such as Tide, Noland achieves the perfect balance of color and form within a vibrant composition that hums with self-sustaining energy.