Elongated Triangles I
- Artist: Bridget Riley
- Date: 1971
- Medium: Screenprint on paper
- Dimensions: image: 965 × 275 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Elongated Triangles I” by Bridget Riley. Created in 1971 as a screenprint on paper, the piece is a masterful example of Riley’s love for geometric optical play. Think of a strip of bold, elongated triangles sliding across a flat field, each one subtly shifting in hue to create a ripple of motion even though the paper itself is still.
Riley, known primarily as a painter, has spent decades making screenprints. She sketches the design herself, then hands it to a professional printer who brings the colors to life on paper. The collaboration is intentional—printmakers often suggest tweaks that help translate Riley’s vision into a finished print. This dialogue between artist and printer gives the work a unique vitality that pure painting sometimes misses.
The print sits on a modest 965 × 275 mm canvas, but its energy is unmistakable. It reminds us that printmaking, for Riley, is a parallel practice that expands the possibilities of color, scale, and rhythm beyond what a canvas can hold.
See it in person
Elongated Triangles I is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
