Kenneth Noland is identified as one of the best known contemporary American Color field painters today. His work is in museum collections such as The Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana; Museum of Fine Arts, Huston, Texas; Museum of Modern Art, New York City; National Gallery of Australia; The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Tate Gallery, London, UK among many.
Noland attended the experimental Black Mountain College where he was introduced to the work of Piet Modrian, Paul Klee and Morris Louis exploring the sensitivity of colour and design. Noland developed an appreciation for the way preeminent colorist Henri Matisse displayed mastery of paint, later commenting "To paint out of Matisse, or to use color, you had to learn how to use the materials."
As part of the Colour Field movement, Noland’s preoccupation with the relationship of the image to the containing edge of the picture led him to a series of studies of concentric rings, or bull’s-eyes, or as they were known - Targets - using unlikely color combinations. Noland pioneered the shaped canvas, initially with a series of symmetrical and asymmetrical diamonds or chevrons. In these paintings, the edges of the canvas become as structurally important as the center.
Noland has been awarded the North Carolina Award for Fine Arts as well as the Doctor of Fine Arts honorary degree from Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina.