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New York Figurative Expressionism

December 15, 2023

New York Figurative Expressionism is a visual arts movement and a branch of American Figurative Expressionism. Though the movement dates to the 1930s, it was not formally classified as "figurative expressionism" until the term arose as a counter-distinction to the New York–based postwar movement known as Abstract Expressionism.[1]

New York Figurative Expressionism
Marsden Hartley's 1941 painting of "Lobster Fishermen" inspired by fishermen from his home state of Maine.
Years activeBeginning in the 1930s, reaching a height in the 1950s-1960s, but with practitioners still working in the style today
CountryUnited States
Major figuresArtists Max Weber, Marsden Hartley, Milton Avery, Edwin Dickinson
InfluencesGerman Expressionism is the most direct influence, but representational painting has roots in Old Master and history painting

Commenters like Museum of Contemporary Art of Detroit (MOCAD) curator Klaus Kertess observed that "[o]n the eve of the new abstraction's purge of figuration and its rise to all-encompassing prominence, the figure began to acquire a new and forceful vigor,"[2] elsewhere explaining that "[d]uring the late forties and early fifties," figurative work was associated with a conservatism abstractionists sought to avoid. Their response was defensive, and "prone to blur the vast distinctions between figurative painters and to exaggerate the difference between the figurative and the nonfigurative. It was not until the late sixties and early seventies that the figure was permitted to return from exile and even to make claims to centrality."[3] But that was not true of all abstract expressionists. Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) and Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), for example, started incorporating figurative elements far sooner.[4] They, along with abstract expressionist Conrad Marca-Relli (1913–2000) among others, built upon the figure as a framework for expanding their otherwise abstract canvases.[2]

Marsden Hartley's "Adelard the Drowned, Master of the Phantom," 1939.
Max Weber's sculpture "Aurora," 1937.
Edwin Dickinson's "Portrait of Biala," 1924.

Early New York figurative expressionists included Max Weber (1881–1961) and Marsden Hartley (1877–1943), known for their work with myth and spirituality. Other early practitioners spanned the lyrical restraint of Milton Avery (1885–1965) and the clear, direct work of Edwin Dickinson (1891–1978).

Figurative Art during Abstract Expressionism: 1950s edit

The use of the figure was influenced by Old Master and history painting for some of the New York Expressionists, notably Larry Rivers (1923–2002) and Grace Hartigan (1922–). For many others, the figure served as the logical subject of representational portraiture: Elaine de Kooning (1918–1989); Balcomb Greene, (1904–1990); Robert De Niro Sr. (1920–1993); Fairfield Porter, (1907–1975); Gregorio Prestopino (1907–1984); Lester Johnson (1919–2010); George McNeil (1909–1995); Henry Gorski (1918–2010); Robert Goodnough (1917–); and Earle M. Pilgrim (1923–1976).

The figure also served as a stylistic element reminiscent of the German Expressionists, but with the heroic scale of the Abstract Expressionists for many of those with allegorical or mythical interests. Artists in this category included: Jan Müller, (1922–1958); Robert Beauchamp, (1923–1995); Nicholas Marsicano, (1914–1991); Bob Thompson, (1937–1966); Ezio Martinelli, (1913–1980) Irving Kriesberg, (1919–2009).[5]

Figurative Partisans: 1950–1964 edit

"During the war years and into the 1950s," Judith E. Stein writes, "the general public was to remain highly suspicious of abstraction, which many considered un-American. While the art critic Clement Greenberg successfully challenged the public's negative response to abstraction, his attempt to communicate to the New York figurative painters of the fifties was less successful."[6] A conversation recollected by Thomas B. Hess emphasized the perceived power of the critic:"It is impossible today to paint a face, pontificated the critic Clement Greenberg around 1950. "That's right," said de Kooning, "and it's impossible not to."[7]

In 1953, the journal Reality  was founded "to rise to the defense of any painter's right to paint any ways he wants."[8] Backing this mission statement was an editorial committee that included Isabel Bishop (1902–1988), Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Jack Levine (1915–2010), Raphael Soyer (1899–1987) and Henry Varnum Poor (1888–1970).

The sculptor Philip Pavia became "partisan publisher" of It is. A Magazine for Abstract Art that he founded in 1958. In an open letter to Leslie Katz, the new publisher of Arts Magazine, he wrote: "I am begging you to give the representational artist a better deal. The neglected representational and near-abstract artists, not the abstractionists, need a champion these days."[9]

Although none of these figurative advocates had the stature of critics like Clement Greenberg or Harold Rosenberg, they were recognized by critics as radicals, "represent[ing] a new generation to whom figurative art was in a sense more revolutionary than abstraction."[10]

The literary historian Marjorie Perloff has made a convincing argument that Frank O'Hara's poems on the works of Garace Hartigan and Larry Rivers proved "that he was really more at home with painting that retains at least some figuration than with pure abstraction."[11] Frank O'Hara wrote an elegant defense in "Nature and New Painting," 1954, listing Grace Hartigan (1922–2008), Larry Rivers (1923–2002), Elaine de Kooning (1918–1989), Jane Freilicher (1924–), Robert De Niro Sr. (1922–1993), Felix Pasilis (1922–), Wolf Kahn (1927–) and Marcia Marcus (1928–) as artists who responded to "the siren-like call of nature."[12] O'Hara aligned the New York Figurative Expressionists within abstract expressionism, which had always taken a strong position against an implied protocol, "whether at the Metropolitan Museum or the Artists Club." Thomas B. Hess wrote: "[T]he 'New figurative painting' which some have been expecting as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism was implicit in it at the start, and is one of its most lineal continuities."[13]

Books edit

  • Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein, The Figurative fifties : New York figurative expressionism, (Newport Beach, Calif. : Newport Harbor Art Museum : New York : Rizzoli, 1988.)ISBN 978-0-8478-0942-4
  • Bram Dijkstra, American expressionism : art and social change, 1920–1950, (New York : H.N. Abrams, in association with the Columbus Museum of Art, 2003.) ISBN 978-0-8109-4231-8
  • Marika Herskovic, American Abstract and Figurative Expressionism Style Is Timely Art Is Timeless (New York School Press, 2009.) ISBN 978-0-9677994-2-1
  • Marika Herskovic, ed. New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists, (New York School Press, 2000.) ISBN 0-9677994-0-6
  • Dore Ashton, The New York school; a cultural reckoning. (New York, Viking Press 1973, ©1972.) ISBN 978-0-670-50912-6
  • Gregory Battock, ed. The new art; a critical anthology, (New York: Frederick A. Prager, 1957or 3rd ed. New York, E.P. Dutton, 1973.) OCLC 788661

References edit

  1. ^ Lafo, Rachel; Capasso, Nicholas; Uhrhane, Jennifer (2002). Painting in Boston, 1950-2000. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 171. ISBN 1558493646.
  2. ^ a b Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein, The Figurative fifties : New York figurative expressionism, Introduction (Newport Beach, Calif.: Newport Harbor Art Museum: New York : Rizzoli, 1988.) ISBN 978-0-8478-0942-4
  3. ^ Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein, The Figurative fifties : New York figurative expressionism, The Other Tradition (Newport Beach, Calif. : Newport Harbor Art Museum : New York : Rizzoli, 1988.)ISBN 978-0-8478-0942-4 p.17
  4. ^ Dubin, Zan (Jul 17, 1988). "Expressionism's Zigzag in '50s New York: It Figured". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein, The Figurative fifties : New York figurative expressionism (Newport Beach, Calif. : Newport Harbor Art Museum : New York : Rizzoli, 1988.)ISBN 978-0-8478-0942-4 p.15
  6. ^ Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein, The Figurative fifties : New York figurative expressionism (Newport Beach, Calif. : Newport Harbor Art Museum : New York : Rizzoli, 1988.)ISBN 978-0-8478-0942-4 pp. 37–51
  7. ^ Willem de Kooning; Thomas B. Hess; M. Knoedler & Co., De Kooning; recent paintings, (New York, Walker and Company, 1967.) OCLC: 320929 p.40
  8. ^ ”Editorial,” Reality, A Journal of Artists’ Opinions (Spring 1954), p.2 and p.8
  9. ^ Philip Pavia, “An Open Letter to Leslie Katz, Publisher of Arts Magazine, New York City,” It is (Autumn 1959), p.79
  10. ^ Martica Sawin, “Jan Müller: 1922–1958,” Arts Magazine 33 (February 1959), p.39
  11. ^ Marjorie Perloff, Frank O’Hara, poet among painters, (New York: G. Braziller, 1977.) ISBN 978-0-8076-0835-7 p.85
  12. ^ Frank O’Hara, Nature and new painting, (New York: Tiber Press, 1954.) OCLC 6890031
  13. ^ Thomas B. Hess, “The Many Death of American Art,” Art News 59 (October 1960), p.25

External links for image reproductions edit

  • Willem de Kooning, Woman, I. 1950–52. Oil on canvas, from MoMA.org
  • Jackson Pollock, Easter and the Totem. 1953. Oil on canvas from MoMA.org
  • Conrad Marca-Relli, Seated Figure, 1953–54 Oil and canvas on linen[permanent dead link] from artic.edu
  • Larry Rivers, Study for George Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1953. Pencil on paper, from MoMA.org
  • from RISD.edu/museum.cfm
  • Elaine de Kooning, Fairfield Porter, 1954 oil on canvas from kemperart.org
  • from hirshhorn.si.edu
  • from hirshhorn.si.edu
  • from collections.walkerart.org
  • from michaelrosenfeld.com
  • Bob Thompson, Untitled, 1962 oil on canvas[permanent dead link] from hirshhorn.si.edu

December 15, 2023
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New York Figurative Expressionism is a visual arts movement and a branch of American Figurative Expressionism Though the movement dates to the 1930s it was not formally classified as figurative expressionism until the term arose as a counter distinction to the New York based postwar movement known as Abstract Expressionism 1 New York Figurative ExpressionismMarsden Hartley s 1941 painting of Lobster Fishermen inspired by fishermen from his home state of Maine Years activeBeginning in the 1930s reaching a height in the 1950s 1960s but with practitioners still working in the style todayCountryUnited StatesMajor figuresArtists Max Weber Marsden Hartley Milton Avery Edwin DickinsonInfluencesGerman Expressionism is the most direct influence but representational painting has roots in Old Master and history paintingCommenters like Museum of Contemporary Art of Detroit MOCAD curator Klaus Kertess observed that o n the eve of the new abstraction s purge of figuration and its rise to all encompassing prominence the figure began to acquire a new and forceful vigor 2 elsewhere explaining that d uring the late forties and early fifties figurative work was associated with a conservatism abstractionists sought to avoid Their response was defensive and prone to blur the vast distinctions between figurative painters and to exaggerate the difference between the figurative and the nonfigurative It was not until the late sixties and early seventies that the figure was permitted to return from exile and even to make claims to centrality 3 But that was not true of all abstract expressionists Willem de Kooning 1904 1997 and Jackson Pollock 1912 1956 for example started incorporating figurative elements far sooner 4 They along with abstract expressionist Conrad Marca Relli 1913 2000 among others built upon the figure as a framework for expanding their otherwise abstract canvases 2 Marsden Hartley s Adelard the Drowned Master of the Phantom 1939 Max Weber s sculpture Aurora 1937 Edwin Dickinson s Portrait of Biala 1924 Early New York figurative expressionists included Max Weber 1881 1961 and Marsden Hartley 1877 1943 known for their work with myth and spirituality Other early practitioners spanned the lyrical restraint of Milton Avery 1885 1965 and the clear direct work of Edwin Dickinson 1891 1978 Contents 1 Figurative Art during Abstract Expressionism 1950s 2 Figurative Partisans 1950 1964 3 Books 4 References 5 External links for image reproductionsFigurative Art during Abstract Expressionism 1950s editThe use of the figure was influenced by Old Master and history painting for some of the New York Expressionists notably Larry Rivers 1923 2002 and Grace Hartigan 1922 For many others the figure served as the logical subject of representational portraiture Elaine de Kooning 1918 1989 Balcomb Greene 1904 1990 Robert De Niro Sr 1920 1993 Fairfield Porter 1907 1975 Gregorio Prestopino 1907 1984 Lester Johnson 1919 2010 George McNeil 1909 1995 Henry Gorski 1918 2010 Robert Goodnough 1917 and Earle M Pilgrim 1923 1976 The figure also served as a stylistic element reminiscent of the German Expressionists but with the heroic scale of the Abstract Expressionists for many of those with allegorical or mythical interests Artists in this category included Jan Muller 1922 1958 Robert Beauchamp 1923 1995 Nicholas Marsicano 1914 1991 Bob Thompson 1937 1966 Ezio Martinelli 1913 1980 Irving Kriesberg 1919 2009 5 Figurative Partisans 1950 1964 edit During the war years and into the 1950s Judith E Stein writes the general public was to remain highly suspicious of abstraction which many considered un American While the art critic Clement Greenberg successfully challenged the public s negative response to abstraction his attempt to communicate to the New York figurative painters of the fifties was less successful 6 A conversation recollected by Thomas B Hess emphasized the perceived power of the critic It is impossible today to paint a face pontificated the critic Clement Greenberg around 1950 That s right said de Kooning and it s impossible not to 7 In 1953 the journal Reality was founded to rise to the defense of any painter s right to paint any ways he wants 8 Backing this mission statement was an editorial committee that included Isabel Bishop 1902 1988 Edward Hopper 1882 1967 Jack Levine 1915 2010 Raphael Soyer 1899 1987 and Henry Varnum Poor 1888 1970 The sculptor Philip Pavia became partisan publisher of It is A Magazine for Abstract Art that he founded in 1958 In an open letter to Leslie Katz the new publisher of Arts Magazine he wrote I am begging you to give the representational artist a better deal The neglected representational and near abstract artists not the abstractionists need a champion these days 9 Although none of these figurative advocates had the stature of critics like Clement Greenberg or Harold Rosenberg they were recognized by critics as radicals represent ing a new generation to whom figurative art was in a sense more revolutionary than abstraction 10 The literary historian Marjorie Perloff has made a convincing argument that Frank O Hara s poems on the works of Garace Hartigan and Larry Rivers proved that he was really more at home with painting that retains at least some figuration than with pure abstraction 11 Frank O Hara wrote an elegant defense in Nature and New Painting 1954 listing Grace Hartigan 1922 2008 Larry Rivers 1923 2002 Elaine de Kooning 1918 1989 Jane Freilicher 1924 Robert De Niro Sr 1922 1993 Felix Pasilis 1922 Wolf Kahn 1927 and Marcia Marcus 1928 as artists who responded to the siren like call of nature 12 O Hara aligned the New York Figurative Expressionists within abstract expressionism which had always taken a strong position against an implied protocol whether at the Metropolitan Museum or the Artists Club Thomas B Hess wrote T he New figurative painting which some have been expecting as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism was implicit in it at the start and is one of its most lineal continuities 13 Books editPaul Schimmel and Judith E Stein The Figurative fifties New York figurative expressionism Newport Beach Calif Newport Harbor Art Museum New York Rizzoli 1988 ISBN 978 0 8478 0942 4 Bram Dijkstra American expressionism art and social change 1920 1950 New York H N Abrams in association with the Columbus Museum of Art 2003 ISBN 978 0 8109 4231 8 Marika Herskovic American Abstract and Figurative Expressionism Style Is Timely Art Is Timeless New York School Press 2009 ISBN 978 0 9677994 2 1 Marika Herskovic ed New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists New York School Press 2000 ISBN 0 9677994 0 6 Dore Ashton The New York school a cultural reckoning New York Viking Press 1973 c 1972 ISBN 978 0 670 50912 6 Gregory Battock ed The new art a critical anthology New York Frederick A Prager 1957or 3rd ed New York E P Dutton 1973 OCLC 788661References edit Lafo Rachel Capasso Nicholas Uhrhane Jennifer 2002 Painting in Boston 1950 2000 Amherst MA University of Massachusetts Press p 171 ISBN 1558493646 a b Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein The Figurative fifties New York figurative expressionism Introduction Newport Beach Calif Newport Harbor Art Museum New York Rizzoli 1988 ISBN 978 0 8478 0942 4 Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein The Figurative fifties New York figurative expressionism The Other Tradition Newport Beach Calif Newport Harbor Art Museum New York Rizzoli 1988 ISBN 978 0 8478 0942 4 p 17 Dubin Zan Jul 17 1988 Expressionism s Zigzag in 50s New York It Figured Los Angeles Times Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein The Figurative fifties New York figurative expressionism Newport Beach Calif Newport Harbor Art Museum New York Rizzoli 1988 ISBN 978 0 8478 0942 4 p 15 Paul Schimmel and Judith E Stein The Figurative fifties New York figurative expressionism Newport Beach Calif Newport Harbor Art Museum New York Rizzoli 1988 ISBN 978 0 8478 0942 4 pp 37 51 Willem de Kooning Thomas B Hess M Knoedler amp Co De Kooning recent paintings New York Walker and Company 1967 OCLC 320929 p 40 Editorial Reality A Journal of Artists Opinions Spring 1954 p 2 and p 8 Philip Pavia An Open Letter to Leslie Katz Publisher of Arts Magazine New York City It is Autumn 1959 p 79 Martica Sawin Jan Muller 1922 1958 Arts Magazine 33 February 1959 p 39 Marjorie Perloff Frank O Hara poet among painters New York G Braziller 1977 ISBN 978 0 8076 0835 7 p 85 Frank O Hara Nature and new painting New York Tiber Press 1954 OCLC 6890031 Thomas B Hess The Many Death of American Art Art News 59 October 1960 p 25External links for image reproductions editWillem de Kooning Woman I 1950 52 Oil on canvas from MoMA org Jackson Pollock Easter and the Totem 1953 Oil on canvas from MoMA org Conrad Marca Relli Seated Figure 1953 54 Oil and canvas on linen permanent dead link from artic edu Larry Rivers Study for George Washington Crossing the Delaware 1953 Pencil on paper from MoMA org Grace Hartigan Homage to Matisse 1955 oil on canvas from RISD edu museum cfm Elaine de Kooning Fairfield Porter 1954 oil on canvas from kemperart org Robert de Niro Sr Lola Montez 1958 1959 charcoal and pencil on paper from hirshhorn si edu Fairfield Porter Katie and Anne 1955 oil on canvas from hirshhorn si edu George McNeil Jezebel 1960 oil on canvas from collections walkerart org Jan Muller 1922 1958 The Search for the Unicorn 1957 oil on canvas from michaelrosenfeld com Bob Thompson Untitled 1962 oil on canvas permanent dead link from hirshhorn si edu Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title New York Figurative Expressionism amp oldid 1176268404, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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