Adolph Gottlieb (American, 1903-1974), “Blast, I,” 1957, oil on canvas, 7′ 6″ x 45 1/8.” The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Philip Johnson Fund � Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Hans Hofmann (American, born Germany, 1880�1966), “Memoria in Aeternum,” 1962, oil on canvas, 7′ x 6′ 1/8,” The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist � 2010 Renate, Hans & Maria Hofmann Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Clyfford Still (American, 1904�1980), “1944-N No. 2,” 1944, oil on canvas, 8′ 8 1/4″ x 7′ 3 1/4,” The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection � Clyfford Still Estate
An artist�s legacy, for better or worse, is always up for negotiation. Drawn from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, “Abstract Expressionist New York” presents work by the usual suspects � Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell � alongside work by less familiar artists like Jack Tworkov, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Theodoros Stamos, Adolph Gottleib, Hedda Sterne, Grace Hartigan, Romare Bearden, William Baziotes, and James Brooks. Despite the ballyhoo that the show would be more inclusive than past Ab Ex offerings, the familiar easily outmuscled the newly anointed both in terms of wall space and inclusion in the press materials. Walking through the galleries I had to remind myself that each painting had been fresh and challenging in the moment of its creation � that the artists themselves, fierce but uncertain, spent hours looking, thinking and arguing about each incremental development, each artist fighting for a place in art history.
At the gala opening reception, the artists� heirs and estate representatives remained aware of the glory of the Abstract Expressionists� notorious competitiveness and the legend of their hard-earned struggle. At the same time, though, they understood that the campaign to achieve and maintain eminence continued well beyond the grave. Had the museum included enough pieces? Were they well installed in a prominent location? Did they stand up to the work surrounding them?
Contemporary artists and curators, however, look at the show differently. In particular, “Abstract Expressionist New York” may move them to loosen the rationalist grip on the art world that has recently taken hold. Rather than offering didactic explanations for each aesthetic decision, artists may rediscover the value in enigmatic, emotionally-rooted work whose meaning is intuitively derived and not so easily explained. In addition, the visual language could have an impact on contemporary practice. Early Abstract Expressionist pieces � especially work by Pollock, de Kooning, Newman, Motherwell, Kline, Arshile Gorky, Lee Krasner, and Richard Pousette-Dart � relied heavily on line to convey both symbolic and emotional meaning, but autonomous line, not in service to the grid or created through masking techniques, is rarely the primary focus in painting these days. For my money, there�s nothing quite as poignant as the uneven quality of a hand-painted line. Painters might examine the show and rediscover how powerful line can be.
Artists less celebrated, whose work used to seem flatfooted and obvious to me, now scan as forward-thinking. What I once considered lesser paintings because of the color, composition, brushwork, or surface quality have come to look fresh and challenging in their visual awkwardness. Adolph Gottleib�s symbolic contrivances, William Baziotes�s acidic color, Hans Hoffman�s clunky palette knifery, and Clyfford Still�s jagged edges are more in tune with the uncomfortable aesthetic decisions painters like Charlene Von Heyl, Keltie Ferris, Wendy White, Chris Martin, and Patricia Treib are exploring today. Rejecting the compositional strategies championed by Bauhaus artists (and still promulgated in 2D-Design foundation classes), these artists have opened a path to a new aesthetic, often mistakenly dismissed as bad painting. This kind of creative iconoclasm, which recalls the early days of Abstract Expressionism, might be moving contemporary abstract painting to a crazy upside-down world, somewhere we haven’t been before.
_______
The best retrospectives � and Abstract Expressionist New York rates as one � are those that influence the contemporary dialogue. To get things started, MoMA has scheduled artists to give talks in the galleries.
November 4: Peter Halley
December 2: Josh Smith
January 12: Richard Tuttle
February 16: Amy Sillman
March 16: Robert Ryman
March 30: Ellen Gallagher
Free with Museum admission. Sign-up begins on a first-come first-served basis at 3:00 p.m. outside the fourth floor exhibition entrance, where the tour begins. Groups are limited to twenty-five people. Additional Gallery Talks will take place in spring 2011, with details to be announced.
“Abstract Expressionist New York: The Big Picture,” organized by Ann Temkin, with Michelle Elligott, Sarah Meister, and Paulina Pobocha. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. Through April 25, 2011.
Related posts:
Roberta Smith review in NY Times
Mira Schor review in A Year of Positive Thinking
Like you, I was disappointed that the show basically reinforced the cannon, when we were led to believe it would redefine it. But it was still a great show to see. I was particularly excited by the Norman Lewis paintings, which stood their ground surrounded by their more famous (and physically larger) neighbors.
My big dream would be to see a similar show dedicated to Abstract Expressionism outside of New York (there were some great painters in Chicago and the West Coast). Or can you imagine how tremendous a women-only Ab Ex survey would be?
'…there's nothing quite as poignant as the uneven quality of a hand-painted line.' you'll never know how it lifted my spirits to read this today…
Thanks for the excellent write-up Sharon. Like the first poster, I'd be interested in seeing more (selected) women artists and from a wider geographic range.
Although they're included in the exhibit, Mitchell and Frankenthaler still seem to be relegated to the second tier ranks of the movement.
So many think of the AbEx movement in terms of 1950 to 1965 or so, but it's very much alive and kicking, with new names and new exciting paintings.
The names mentioned in your post are to be revered, of course, but the movement is not dead and is not stagnant at all. One simply needs to get out of NY and look in smaller galleries throughout the U.S. Lots of great works to be seen!