ARTISTS
The Making of Americans
09 Mar, 2011 - 02 Jul, 2011
The Making of Americans takes an innovative approach to the modern narrative of art history, particularly during the controversial period directly following World War II. Organized in collaboration with the Museum of American Art, Berlin, The Making of Americans addresses the 1958鈥�59 exhibition New American Painting, which was curated by Dorothy Miller, Alfred Barr鈥檚 assistant at the Museum of Modern Art, and which toured to eight European cities. Works from this 1958鈥�59 exhibition have been recreated from catalogue photographs, including paintings by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Barnett Newman.
The show contextualises the significance of Miller鈥檚 exhibition in shaping the new identity of American art by exploring important precursors: Gertrude Stein鈥檚 Salon de Fleurus, Katherine Dreier and Marcel Duchamp鈥檚 Soci茅t茅 Anonyme, the 1913 Armory Show, and Alfred Barr鈥檚 original layout of MoMA.
The Making of Americans also includes paintings, catalogues, and other artifacts from legendary Modernist exhibitions and asks: How was postwar American art understood contemporaneously? What were the artistic, cultural, and political motivations for this art and the institutions that supported it? And how might these motivations differ from art historical narratives that have been constructed since then?
The James Gallery鈥檚 presentation marks the first showing in New York of the collection of the Museum of American Art, Berlin, whose previous international exhibitions include the Van Abbemuseum, The Netherlands (2009 and 2010); Museo Rafael Tamayo, Mexico City (2010); the Istanbul Biennial (2009); and the Venice Biennial (2005).
The show contextualises the significance of Miller鈥檚 exhibition in shaping the new identity of American art by exploring important precursors: Gertrude Stein鈥檚 Salon de Fleurus, Katherine Dreier and Marcel Duchamp鈥檚 Soci茅t茅 Anonyme, the 1913 Armory Show, and Alfred Barr鈥檚 original layout of MoMA.
The Making of Americans also includes paintings, catalogues, and other artifacts from legendary Modernist exhibitions and asks: How was postwar American art understood contemporaneously? What were the artistic, cultural, and political motivations for this art and the institutions that supported it? And how might these motivations differ from art historical narratives that have been constructed since then?
The James Gallery鈥檚 presentation marks the first showing in New York of the collection of the Museum of American Art, Berlin, whose previous international exhibitions include the Van Abbemuseum, The Netherlands (2009 and 2010); Museo Rafael Tamayo, Mexico City (2010); the Istanbul Biennial (2009); and the Venice Biennial (2005).
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The Making of Americans takes an innovative approach to the modern narrative of art history, particularly during the controversial period directly following World War II. Organized in collaboration with the Museum of American Art, Berlin, The Making of Americans addresses the 1958鈥�59 exhibition New American Painting, which was curated by Dorothy Miller, Alfred Barr鈥檚 assistant at the Museum of Modern Art, and which toured to eight European cities. Works from this 1958鈥�59 exhibition have been recreated from catalogue photographs, including paintings by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Barnett Newman.
The show contextualises the significance of Miller鈥檚 exhibition in shaping the new identity of American art by exploring important precursors: Gertrude Stein鈥檚 Salon de Fleurus, Katherine Dreier and Marcel Duchamp鈥檚 Soci茅t茅 Anonyme, the 1913 Armory Show, and Alfred Barr鈥檚 original layout of MoMA.
The Making of Americans also includes paintings, catalogues, and other artifacts from legendary Modernist exhibitions and asks: How was postwar American art understood contemporaneously? What were the artistic, cultural, and political motivations for this art and the institutions that supported it? And how might these motivations differ from art historical narratives that have been constructed since then?
The James Gallery鈥檚 presentation marks the first showing in New York of the collection of the Museum of American Art, Berlin, whose previous international exhibitions include the Van Abbemuseum, The Netherlands (2009 and 2010); Museo Rafael Tamayo, Mexico City (2010); the Istanbul Biennial (2009); and the Venice Biennial (2005).
The show contextualises the significance of Miller鈥檚 exhibition in shaping the new identity of American art by exploring important precursors: Gertrude Stein鈥檚 Salon de Fleurus, Katherine Dreier and Marcel Duchamp鈥檚 Soci茅t茅 Anonyme, the 1913 Armory Show, and Alfred Barr鈥檚 original layout of MoMA.
The Making of Americans also includes paintings, catalogues, and other artifacts from legendary Modernist exhibitions and asks: How was postwar American art understood contemporaneously? What were the artistic, cultural, and political motivations for this art and the institutions that supported it? And how might these motivations differ from art historical narratives that have been constructed since then?
The James Gallery鈥檚 presentation marks the first showing in New York of the collection of the Museum of American Art, Berlin, whose previous international exhibitions include the Van Abbemuseum, The Netherlands (2009 and 2010); Museo Rafael Tamayo, Mexico City (2010); the Istanbul Biennial (2009); and the Venice Biennial (2005).
Contact details
The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue Midtown - New York, NY, USA 10016
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