Abstract Expressionism
24 Sep 2016 - 02 Jan 2017
Franz Kline,
Vawdavitch, 1955.
Oil on canvas. 158.1 x 204.9 cm. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Gift of Claire B. Zeisler 1976.39. Photo Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Photography: Joe Ziolkowski © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015.
Vawdavitch, 1955.
Oil on canvas. 158.1 x 204.9 cm. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Gift of Claire B. Zeisler 1976.39. Photo Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Photography: Joe Ziolkowski © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015.
Lee Krasner,
The Eye is the First Circle, 1960.
Oil on canvas. 235.6 x 487.4 cm. Courtesy Robert Miller Gallery, New York. © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016 Photo Private collection, courtesy Robert Miller Gallery, New York.
The Eye is the First Circle, 1960.
Oil on canvas. 235.6 x 487.4 cm. Courtesy Robert Miller Gallery, New York. © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016 Photo Private collection, courtesy Robert Miller Gallery, New York.
Robert Motherwell,
Wall Painting No III, 1953.
Oil on canvas. 137.1 x 184.5 cm. Private Collection. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth © Dedalus Foundation, Inc. /VAGA, NY/DACS, London 2016.
Wall Painting No III, 1953.
Oil on canvas. 137.1 x 184.5 cm. Private Collection. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth © Dedalus Foundation, Inc. /VAGA, NY/DACS, London 2016.
Jackson Pollock,
Mural, 1943.
Oil and casein on canvas. 243.21 x 603.25 cm. The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Gift of Peggy Guggenheim. © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016.
Mural, 1943.
Oil and casein on canvas. 243.21 x 603.25 cm. The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Gift of Peggy Guggenheim. © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016.
David Smith,
Blackburn, Song of an Irish Blacksmith, 1949-50.
Steel and bronze, on marble base. 96.7 x 103.5 x 58 cm. Lehmbruck Museum, Duisberg © Estate of David Smith/DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2016.
Blackburn, Song of an Irish Blacksmith, 1949-50.
Steel and bronze, on marble base. 96.7 x 103.5 x 58 cm. Lehmbruck Museum, Duisberg © Estate of David Smith/DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2016.
Jackson Pollock,
Male and Female, 1942-43.
Oil on canvas. 186.1 x 124.5 cm. Philadelphia Musuem of Art. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. Gates Lloyd, 1974 Photo Philadelphia Museum of Art © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015.
Male and Female, 1942-43.
Oil on canvas. 186.1 x 124.5 cm. Philadelphia Musuem of Art. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. Gates Lloyd, 1974 Photo Philadelphia Museum of Art © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015.
Willem De Kooning,
Woman II, 1952.
Oil, enamel and charcoal on canvas. 149.9 x 109.3 cm. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller, 1995 © 2016 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and DACS, London Photo © 2015. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence.
Woman II, 1952.
Oil, enamel and charcoal on canvas. 149.9 x 109.3 cm. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller, 1995 © 2016 The Willem de Kooning Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and DACS, London Photo © 2015. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence.
Mark Rothko,
No. 4 (Yellow, Black, Orange on Yellow/ Untitled), 1953.
Oil on canvas. 269.2 x 127 cm. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko ARS, NY and DACS, London.
No. 4 (Yellow, Black, Orange on Yellow/ Untitled), 1953.
Oil on canvas. 269.2 x 127 cm. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko ARS, NY and DACS, London.
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
24 September 2016 — 2 January 2017
Exploring an unparalleled period in American art, this long-awaited exhibition reveals the full breadth of a movement that will forever be associated with the boundless creative energy of 1950s New York.
In the “age of anxiety” surrounding the Second World War and the years of free jazz and Beat poetry, artists like Pollock, Rothko and de Kooning broke from accepted conventions to unleash a new confidence in painting.
Often monumental in scale, their works are at times intense, spontaneous and deeply expressive. At others they are more contemplative, presenting large fields of colour that border on the sublime. These radical creations redefined the nature of painting, and were intended not simply to be admired from a distance but as two-way encounters between artist and viewer.
It was a watershed moment in the evolution of 20th-century art, yet, remarkably, there has been no major survey of the movement since 1959.
This autumn we bring together some of the most celebrated art of the past century, offering the chance to experience the powerful collective impact of Pollock, Rothko, Still, de Kooning, Newman, Kline, Smith, Guston and Gorky as their works dominate our galleries with their scale and vitality.
We also acknowledge the lesser-known figures who contributed to the development of the movement. Finally, we include photography and sculpture to complete an ambitious re-evaluation of the phenomenon that saw New York take over from Paris as the capital of the art world.
The exhibition is curated by the independent art historian Dr David Anfam, alongside Edith Devaney, Contemporary Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts. Dr Anfam is the preeminent authority on Abstract Expressionism, the author of the catalogue raisonné of Mark Rothko’s paintings and Senior Consulting Curator at the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver.
Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London with the collaboration of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
24 September 2016 — 2 January 2017
Exploring an unparalleled period in American art, this long-awaited exhibition reveals the full breadth of a movement that will forever be associated with the boundless creative energy of 1950s New York.
In the “age of anxiety” surrounding the Second World War and the years of free jazz and Beat poetry, artists like Pollock, Rothko and de Kooning broke from accepted conventions to unleash a new confidence in painting.
Often monumental in scale, their works are at times intense, spontaneous and deeply expressive. At others they are more contemplative, presenting large fields of colour that border on the sublime. These radical creations redefined the nature of painting, and were intended not simply to be admired from a distance but as two-way encounters between artist and viewer.
It was a watershed moment in the evolution of 20th-century art, yet, remarkably, there has been no major survey of the movement since 1959.
This autumn we bring together some of the most celebrated art of the past century, offering the chance to experience the powerful collective impact of Pollock, Rothko, Still, de Kooning, Newman, Kline, Smith, Guston and Gorky as their works dominate our galleries with their scale and vitality.
We also acknowledge the lesser-known figures who contributed to the development of the movement. Finally, we include photography and sculpture to complete an ambitious re-evaluation of the phenomenon that saw New York take over from Paris as the capital of the art world.
The exhibition is curated by the independent art historian Dr David Anfam, alongside Edith Devaney, Contemporary Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts. Dr Anfam is the preeminent authority on Abstract Expressionism, the author of the catalogue raisonné of Mark Rothko’s paintings and Senior Consulting Curator at the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver.
Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London with the collaboration of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.