Action/Abstraction

WARNING

You are viewing an older version of the Yalebooks website. Please visit out new website with more updated information and a better user experience: https://www.yalebooks.com

Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976

Edited by Norman L. Kleeblatt; With essays by Debra Bricker Balken, Morris Dickstein, Douglas Dreishpoon, Charlotte Eyerman, Mark Godfrey, Caroline A. Jones, Norman L. Kleeblatt, and Irving Sandler; Cultural timeline by Maurice Berger

View Inside Format: Cloth
Price: $65.00
Our shopping cart only supports Mozilla Firefox. Please ensure you're using that browser before attempting to purchase.

Also Available in:
PB-with Flaps

Out of Print

The abstract paintings of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman, Lee Krasner, Clyfford Still, Helen Frankenthaler, and others revolutionized the art world in the 1940s and 1950s and continue to inspire passionate arguments to this day. What were these artists trying to achieve? Who were the critical voices of the time that rallied public interest in Abstract Expressionism and sparked rancorous debate?  

 

Drawing on recent critical, historical, and biographical work, this lavishly illustrated book offers a sharp new focus on a pivotal art movement. It also presents an extensive commentary on the two most influential critics of postwar American art—Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg—whose powerful views shaped perceptions of Abstract Expressionism and other contemporary art movements. In one essay, Norman L. Kleeblatt traces the influence of Abstract Expressionism into the mid-1970s and examines its connection to subsequent art styles. Other essays range from the literary and intellectual culture of New York during that period and an analysis of sculpture and representation to a discussion of Jewish issues in relation to postwar American Art. In addition, the book features a magisterial essay by eminent critic Irving Sandler and a copiously illustrated cultural timeline by Maurice Berger.

Norman L. Kleeblatt is Susan and Elihu Rose Chief Curator at The Jewish Museum. Debra Bricker Balken is an art scholar and independent curator. Maurice Berger is Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Morris Dickstein is Distinguished Professor of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Douglas Dreishpoon is Senior Curator at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. Charlotte Eyerman is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Saint Louis Art Museum. Mark Godfrey is curator at the Tate Modern in London. Caroline A. Jones, Professor of Art History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Irving Sandler is Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York at Purchase and a Visiting Professor at Hunter College.


EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

The Jewish Museum, New York (May 4, 2008 – September 21, 2008)


Saint Louis Art Museum (October 19, 2008 – January 11, 2009)


The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (February 13 – May 31, 2009)

"Thorough and scholarly. . . . Presents a balanced account of the art, the artists, the critics and the issues."—Richard Kalina, Art in America

"Of particular interest is Balken's essay on Rosenberg, which relies on new archival research to give a more robust understanding of this powerful yet often misunderstood critic. . . . Recommended."—Choice

“… wide-ranging … informative and engaging … anyone interested in understanding contemporary abstract painting should consult [this] book…” - Alexander Adams, The Art Book

"The excellent catalog . . . includes a number of essays focused on the idea behind the art." —David Bonette, St. Louis Post

Winner of the 2009 Jewish Book Awards in the Visual Arts category, sponsored by the Jewish Book Council

Shortlisted for the 2009 Sir Banister Fletcher Award presented by the Authors' Club
ISBN: 9780300122152
Publication Date: May 30, 2008
Publishing Partner: Published in association with The Jewish Museum, New York
344 pages, 9 3/4 x 12
89 b/w + 166 color illus.
The Jewish Identity Project

New American Photography

Susan Chevlowe; With contributions by Joanna Lindenbaum and

...
View details
Sarah Bernhardt

The Art of High Drama

Carol Ockman and Kenneth E.

...
View details
Writing a Modern Jewish History

Essays in Honor of Salo W. Baron

Edited by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett with essays by Arth

...
View details
Masterworks of The Jewish Museum

Maurice Berger and Joan Rosenbaum; Entries by Vivian B.

...
View details
American Vanguards

Graham, Davis, Gorky, de Kooning, and Their Circle, 1927-1942

William C. Agee, Irving Sandler, and Karen Wilkin

View details
Dove/O'Keeffe

Circles of Influence

Debra Bricker Balken

View details