Abstract Expressionism to Color Field Painting

Curated by the museum’s director Susan L. Talbott, the show highlights the strength of the museum’s modern art holdings and the breadth of its overall collection, which includes more than 50,000 objects. These featured pieces in Abstract Expressionism and Color Field Painting were previously unseen for almost a decade.

“As a former curator, I relished the experience of putting this show together,” said Talbott. “One of my main focus areas is to amplify our tradition of artistic excellence and we are very privileged to be able to draw from such an extensive collection filled with some of the world’s most renowned works.”

Abstract Expressionism was the first distinctly American artistic movement to achieve international authority, shifting the center of the art world away from Paris to New York during the late 1940s.

Experimentation with the fundamental elements of painting and the unconscious were prime sources of inspiration for Abstract Expressionist artists, who strove to infuse their abstractions with profound levels of emotion.

“From Pollock's explosive drip paintings to Noland's simplified images, the range of painterly approaches and strength of emotions evident throughout each gallery is remarkable,” continued Talbott.

Color Field artists were also interested in different application methods and often poured or sprayed a thin veil of pigment onto unprimed canvases, letting gravity, not the artist's hand, dictate the flow of the paint down the canvas’s surface.

Abstract Expressionism to Color Field Painting
Kurator: Susan L. Talbott

Künstler: Franz Kline ...