Abstract Expressionism: Transcending the Radical
Heather James Fine Art presents a survey of Abstract Expressionism looking at its genesis and development over several decades. Covering several generations of artists from the infamous Irascibles to the core group of The Club, including overlooked artists on the West Coast and women. Works of this caliber and breadth are not often found outside of public institutions with only a few providing this level of scope. This is a rare glimpse into a broader picture of an important chapter of art history.
But what is Abstract Expressionism and why was it so important? Also known as AbEx, it is the movement of non-representational art that placed primacy on the artist鈥檚 emotive mark-making. Many adherents met and worked side-by-side during the 1930s. But, it burst onto the scene after World War II, emerging from the destruction of the war as America found itself with both newfound confidence and anxiety of a new present. This group of artists worked through the trauma of the past and apprehensive optimism of an everchanging future.
Within this exhibition are pieces by the Irascibles. The Irascibles were a group of artists who protested The Metropolitan Museum of Art鈥檚 exhibition 鈥淎merican Painting Today 鈥� 1950鈥� for the institution鈥檚 emphasis on figurative painting. Photographer Nina Leen immortalized the group in a photograph, forever cementing them in art history. Among the group were Theodoros Stamos, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Richard Pousette-Dart, William Baziotes, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, and Ad Reinhardt. Many of these artists are in this exhibition, giving a starting point for the show.
It is interesting to note that very shortly, these artists would outshine any others, leading the charge for abstraction which would become the dominant art style for decades. In fact, in only a few years, figuration would become the face of avant-garde art against abstraction. Many of those who were adherents to the separate and distinct San Francisco School of Abstract Expressionism would form the Bay Area Figurative art movement not too long after the formation of the Irascibles. Nevertheless, a few of the West Coast artists like Richard Diebenkorn, represented in this exhibition, would hold true to abstraction.
Among the photographed Irascibles, only one was a woman despite the number of women who not only were major players of Abstract Expressionism and abstract art in general. In fact, the sole woman in the Irascibles photograph, Hedda Sterne, was nearly pushed out of the image as they believed a woman would make the group be taken less seriously. One of the characteristics applied to the movement was a sense of heroic and brash masculinity.
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Heather James Fine Art presents a survey of Abstract Expressionism looking at its genesis and development over several decades. Covering several generations of artists from the infamous Irascibles to the core group of The Club, including overlooked artists on the West Coast and women. Works of this caliber and breadth are not often found outside of public institutions with only a few providing this level of scope. This is a rare glimpse into a broader picture of an important chapter of art history.
But what is Abstract Expressionism and why was it so important? Also known as AbEx, it is the movement of non-representational art that placed primacy on the artist鈥檚 emotive mark-making. Many adherents met and worked side-by-side during the 1930s. But, it burst onto the scene after World War II, emerging from the destruction of the war as America found itself with both newfound confidence and anxiety of a new present. This group of artists worked through the trauma of the past and apprehensive optimism of an everchanging future.
Within this exhibition are pieces by the Irascibles. The Irascibles were a group of artists who protested The Metropolitan Museum of Art鈥檚 exhibition 鈥淎merican Painting Today 鈥� 1950鈥� for the institution鈥檚 emphasis on figurative painting. Photographer Nina Leen immortalized the group in a photograph, forever cementing them in art history. Among the group were Theodoros Stamos, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Richard Pousette-Dart, William Baziotes, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, and Ad Reinhardt. Many of these artists are in this exhibition, giving a starting point for the show.
It is interesting to note that very shortly, these artists would outshine any others, leading the charge for abstraction which would become the dominant art style for decades. In fact, in only a few years, figuration would become the face of avant-garde art against abstraction. Many of those who were adherents to the separate and distinct San Francisco School of Abstract Expressionism would form the Bay Area Figurative art movement not too long after the formation of the Irascibles. Nevertheless, a few of the West Coast artists like Richard Diebenkorn, represented in this exhibition, would hold true to abstraction.
Among the photographed Irascibles, only one was a woman despite the number of women who not only were major players of Abstract Expressionism and abstract art in general. In fact, the sole woman in the Irascibles photograph, Hedda Sterne, was nearly pushed out of the image as they believed a woman would make the group be taken less seriously. One of the characteristics applied to the movement was a sense of heroic and brash masculinity.
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