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Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy of Arts

Opening on 24 September, a new exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts affirms that Abstract Expressionism is as timely and relevant as ever. Even as the largely American movement remains firmly established as a major moment in the 20th century and the context of modernity, so too does new art-historical...
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Opening on 24 September, a new exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts affirms that Abstract Expressionism is as timely and relevant as ever. Even as the largely American movement remains firmly established as a major moment in the 20th century and the context of modernity, so too does new art-historical thinking ensures that it is also open to interpretation.

Known simply as “Abstract Expressionism“, the exhibition marks the first survey exhibition of its kind in nearly six decades. With over 150 works culled from public and private collections worldwide, it goes without saying that many these works have never been exhibited in the same gallery — and that they may never all be in one institution again.

The ambitious exhibition also looks to re-examine and re-evaluate various assumptions about the movemnt itself, by questioning the classic bifurcation into “colour-field” — represented by Rothko, Newman, et al — and “action painting” — Pollock and de Kooning. Similarly, the show breaks out of the New York bubble with inclusion of West Coast artists such as Sam Francis, Mark Tobey and Minor White.

A pair of Pollocks will be traveling from Iowa and Canberra to engage in a dialogue in Mayfair, while nine Clyfford Still paintings will make an unprecedented journey from the artist’s eponymous museum in Denver. The list of artists and works is impressively comprehensive, featuring Arshile Gorky, Phillip Guston, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, David Smith, Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, and many more.

Abstract Expressionism” is curated by independent art historian David Anfam and Edith Devaney, Contemporary Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts. A fully illustrated catalogue will be published on the occasion of the exhibition, which will be on view from 24 September, 2016 – 2 January, 2017, in London. It will subsequently travel to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, where it will be on view from 3 February – 4 June, 2017.

Barnett Newman, Profile of Light, 1967. Acrylic on Canvas, 304.8 x 190.5 cm. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid. © 2016 The Barnett Newman Foundation, New York / DACS, London. Photo Archivo Fotográfico, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
Barnett Newman, Profile of Light, 1967. Acrylic on Canvas, 304.8 x 190.5 cm. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid. © 2016 The Barnett Newman Foundation, New York / DACS, London. Photo Archivo Fotográfico, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
Jackson Pollock  Blue poles (Number 11, 1952), 1952.  Enamel and aluminium paint with glass on canvas, 212.1 x 488.9 cm.  National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (c) The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016
Jackson Pollock Blue poles (Number 11, 1952), 1952. Enamel and aluminium paint with glass on canvas, 212.1 x 488.9 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (c) The Pollock-Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016
David Smith - Star Cage, 1950 Painted and brushed steel, 114 x 130.2 x 65.4cm Lent by the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The John Rood Sculpture Collection. (c) Estate of David Smith/DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2016
David Smith - Star Cage, 1950 Painted and brushed steel, 114 x 130.2 x 65.4cm Lent by the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The John Rood Sculpture Collection. (c) Estate of David Smith/DACS, London/VAGA, New York 2016
Mark Rothko, No. 15, 1957  Oil on canvas, 261.6 x 295.9 cm.  Private collection, New York  (c) 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko ARS, NY and DACS, London
Mark Rothko, No. 15, 1957 Oil on canvas, 261.6 x 295.9 cm. Private collection, New York (c) 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko ARS, NY and DACS, London
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 2016 Digital image (c) 2016. The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence.
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 2016 Digital image (c) 2016. The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence.
Franz Kline - Vawdavitch, 1955. Oil on canvas, 158.1 x 204.9 cm Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Claire B. Zeisler 1976.39 (c) ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016 Photo: Joe Ziolkowski
Franz Kline - Vawdavitch, 1955. Oil on canvas, 158.1 x 204.9 cm Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Claire B. Zeisler 1976.39 (c) ARS, NY and DACS, London 2016 Photo: Joe Ziolkowski
Clyfford Still - PH-950, 1950. Oil on canvas, 233.7 x 177.8 cm. Clyfford Still Museum, Denver (c) City and County of Denver / DACS 2016. Photo courtesy the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO
Clyfford Still - PH-950, 1950. Oil on canvas, 233.7 x 177.8 cm. Clyfford Still Museum, Denver (c) City and County of Denver / DACS 2016. Photo courtesy the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO
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