American Art in the 20th Century - Painting and Sculpture, 1913-1993

498 Pages·1993·103.7 MB·English

by  Christos M. Joachimides

HftRIN COUNTY FREE LIBRfiRY AMERICAN
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1 31111014796690
Painting and Sculpture
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1913-1993
century
20th
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Prestel
American Art in the 20th Cennrry
Painting and Sculpture 1913-1993
Edited byChristosM.Joachimides and
Norman Rosenthal
Co-ordinatingEditor: DavidAnfam
490pageswith 516illustrations, 252 in full colour
AmericanArtinthe 20th Centuryisthefourthvolume in
aseriesofmonographs devoted to paintingand sculp-
ture invariouscoimtriessince theearlyyearsofthis
century. Published inconjunctionwithanexhibitionat
theAlartin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin and the Royal
Academyof.\rts, London, itpro\'ides an extensive,
copiouslyillustratedsurveyofthesubjectthatiscertain
tobecome astandardwork.
The historyofthe\-isual artsin theUnitedStates
duringthiscenturyisoneofassimilation followedbyan
explosionofindigenous creativit\'thataltered the
course ofart. TheArmor\-Show, heldinNewYorkin
1913, introducedAmericans to the latestdevelopments
in European modernism. Xo less profoundwasthe
impactofMarcel Duchamp,who firstusitedNewYork
in 1915 andwas to acquire cardinal importance as a
mentorto several generations ofAmericanswho ques-
tioned traditionalnotionsofart. Theinter-waryears
were marked byAmerican artists comingto termswith
European movements-especiallyCubism, Dada and
Surrealism-yetsuchoutstandingfiguresasManRay,
Edward HopperandJoseph Cornellwere able to give
expression to a quintessentially.American\'iewofthe
world. The two poles ofthat\-iew-an espousaJofthe
sublime and a concernwith the minutiae ofeveryday
realit}--have characterized artinthe USAeversince.
Itwasinthemid-1940s,withthegenesisofAbstract
Expressionism, thatAmerican artachieveditsbreak-
through. The paintingofJackson Pollock,\Mllem de
Kooningand BamettNewman shooktheveryfounda-
tionsofthatartand, togetherwith theworkofAd
Reinhardt,MarkRothko, Ch-fford Still, Da\-id Smith
and others, ensuredAmerica's artisticpre-eminence in
the 1950s. NewYorkreplaced Parisasthecentre ofthe
international artworld. AreactionagainstAbstract
Expressionism becamenoticeable in the mid-1950s. In
the earlyworkofJasperJohns and RobertRauschen-
berg, forexample,AbstractExpressionisttechniques
were wedded toobjects ft-om everydayexperience.This
concernwith evervdayrealit}'laybehind the emergence
ofPopArtinthe early 1960s, whenartistssuchas Roy
Lichtenstein and Andy\\arhol explored theworld pre-
sented bythe mediain a seeminglyimpersonal manner.
continuedonbackflap
Prestel
CIVIC CEr^TER
Hum
3 111 nil0il1479 6690

American Art
in
the 20th Century
'•
Patrons ofthe Exhibition
Her Majesty The Queen
Dr Richard von Weizsacker
President ofthe Federal Republic ofGermany
Wilham CHnton
J.
President ofthe United States ofAmerica
Advisory Committee
Felix Baumann
Walter Hopps
Richard Koshalek
Thomas Krens
William S.Lieberman
FranzMeyer
David Ross
Katharina Schmidt
Wieland Schmied
Nicholas Serota
American Art
in
the 20th Century
Painting and Sculpture
1913-1993
Editedby
Christos M. Joachimides and Norman Rosenthal
Co-ordinatingEditor
David Anfam
Essaysby
Brooks Adams, David Anfam, Richard Armstrong,John Beardsley,
Neal Benezra, Achilla Bonito Oliva, Arthur C.Danto, Abraham A.Da\idson,
WolfgangMax Faust, Mary Emma Harris, Christos M.Joachimides,
Thomas Kellein, Donald Kuspit, Mary Lublin,
Karal Ann Marling, Barbara Moore, Francis V. O'Connor,
Stephen Polcari, Carter Ratcliff, Norman Rosenthal,
Irving Sandler, Wieland Schmied, Peter Selz,
Gail Stavitsky and Douglas Tallack
Prestel
1
This is the fourth volume to appear in conjunction with the series
ofexhibitions oftwentieth-century art shown at the Royal AcademyofArts,
London. Already published:
GeiynanArtin the 20th Centinj: PaintingandSailpture igo^-igS^ (1985)
BritishAitin the 20th Centiny: TheModemMovement(1987)
ItaliajiAnin the 20th Centwy: PaintiiigandSculpture ip00-1^88 (1989)
Firstpublished on the occasion ofthe exhibition
'American Artin the 20th Century: Painting and Sculpture 1913-1993',
held at theAlartin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, 8 May-25July 1993, and the
RoyalAcademyofArts and the Saatchi Gallery, London,
16 September-12 December 1993.
Exhibition organized byChristosM.Joachimides andNorman Rosenthal.
© 1993 byPrestel-Verlag,Munich,RoyalAcademyofArts,London,and
ZEITGEIST-Gesellschafte.V.,Berlin
©ofworksillustratedbytheartists,theirheirsandassigns,exceptinthefollowingcases:
Carl.\ndre,RichardArtschwager,Jean-AIichelBasquiat,JosephBeuys,.\lexanderCalder,
StuartDa\TS,WlllemdeKooning,MarcelDuchamp,DanFlavin,SamFrancis,ArshileGorky,
JasperJohns,JosephKosuth,SolLeWltt,RoyLichtenstein,ManRay,RobertMangold,
AndreMasson,RobertoMattaEchaurren,RobertMotherwell,BruceNauman,KennethNoland,
GeorgiaO'Keeffe,FrancisPicabia,PabloPicasso,JacksonPollock,RobertRauschenberg,AdReinhardt,
JamesRosenquist,MarkRothko,RichardSerra,DavidSmith,FrankStella,MarkTobey,
LawrenceVVeiner,TomWesselmannandGrantWoodbyVGBild-Kunst,Bonn, 1993;
JosephCornellbyTheJosephandRobertCornellMemorialFoundation,Houston;
Andy\\^arholbyTheAndyWarholFoundationfortheVisualArts,Inc.,NewYork, 1993.
Fig.9,p. 136:©Christo 1976
©ofallotherdocuments,seePhotographicAcknowledgments,pp.484-5
Coverillustration:RobertRauschenberg,Canyon, 1959(detail,Cat. 137)
TranslationfrmntheGerman:Da\idBritt(ChristosiM.Joachimides),JohnBrownjohn(ThomasKellein),
John\MlliamGabriel(WielandSchmied)andJohnOrmrod(WolfgangMaxFaust)
TranslationfromtheItalian:]o2ichimXeugroschel(AchilleBenitoOUva)
Pictureresearch:ElisabethHartung
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ISBN3-7913-1261-8(Englishedition)•ISBN3-7913-1240-5(Germanedition)
1 3
Contents
SirRogerde Grey Foreword 7
ChristosM.Joachimides WrenchingAmerica's Impulse into Art:
Notes onArtin the USA 9
Norman Rosenthal AmericanArt: AView from Europe 1
ArthurC. Danto PhilosophizingAmericanArt 2
Douglas Tallack Culture, Politics and SocietyinMid-CenturyAmerica 29
AbrahamA. Davidson TheArmory Showand EarlyModernism inAmerica 39
WielandSchmied PrecisionistView andAmerican Scene: The 1920s 47
Francis V.O''Connor The 1930s: Notes on theTransition from Social to Individual Scale in theArt
ofthe Depression Era 61
Stephen Polcari ModernistHistoryand SurrealistImagination: American Artin the 1940s 69
havingSandler Abstract Expressionism: The Noise ofTraffic on the Wayto Walden Pond 77
DavidAilfam Beginning atthe End: The Extremes ofAbstractExpressionism 85
MaryEmmaHarris BlackMountain College: EuropeanModernism, the Experimental Spirit
and the American Avant-Garde 93
BarbaraMoore NewYorkIntermedia: Happenings and Fluxus in the 1960s 99
BrooksAdams The 1960s: Notes on Camelot 107
NealBenezra 'To SpeakAnotherLanguage': The Critique ofPainting and the
Beginnings ofMinimal and Conceptual Art 117
RichardArmstrong Antiform: 1965-1970 125
John Beardsley Land Art 133
WolfgangMaxFaust Shattered Orthodoxy: The EnergyofTransformation 139
DonaldKuspit Critics, Primaryand Secondary 145
GailStavitsky The Museum and the Collector 151
Maiy Lublin American Galleries in theTwentieth Century: From Stieglitz to Castelli 157
CarterRatclijf 'The BodyElectric': The Erotic Dimension in AmericanArt 165
KaralAnnMai'ling The Media in America: But is itArt? 171
PeterSelz Americans Abroad 177
ThomasKellein It's the Sheer Size: European Responses toAmerican Art 187
AchilleBonito Oliva The Western Frontiers ofInternationalism: Europe-America 195
Artists in the Exhibition 201
Catalogue 203
Biographies ofthe Artists 439
Selected Bibliography 478
The Authors 482
PhotographicAcknowledgments 484
Index ofNames 4H6
Lenders to the Exhibition
Amsterdam, StedelijkMuseum Pittsburgh, The Carnegie.Museum of.Art .Audreyand SidnevImias, Los.Angeles
Baltimore,The BaltimoreMuseum ofArt Rotterdam,.Museum Bo\inans-van Beunin- Jedermann Collection, N..A
Basle, OffentlicheKunstsammlungBasel, gen DakisJoannou, .Athens
Kunstmuseum St. Louis, The SaintLouis.Art.Museum JasperJohns
Berne, Kunstmuseum Bern SanDiego,AluseumofContemporaryArt EllsworthKelly
Bloomington, Indiana Universit}-Art San Francisco, San FranciscoMusevimof CourtesyGalerieRudolfKicken, Cologne,
Museum .Modern.Art and Galerie.Alain Pa\-iot, Paris
Boston,-Museum ofFine.Arts Schaffhausen, Hallen fiirneue Kunst CollectionofJonand BarbaraLandau
Budapest,MuzeumLudwig Seattle, SeattleArtMuseum CoUectionofRichard E. Lang,JaneAI.
Buffalo,NT,Albright-KnoxArtGallen* Llm, Llmer.Museum Da\"is,Aledina,A\A
Cambridge, ALA, FoggArtMuseum, Utica,NY',.Munson-\Mlliams-ProctorInsti- Galerie m, Bochum, and Richard Serra
Hanard Universit)*ArtMuseums tute,Aluseumof.Art CollectionAI.and.Mme.A.drien.Maeght,Paris
Chicago,TheArtInstituteofChicago Washington, DC, HirshhomAluseumand CollectionLoicMalle,Paris
Chicago,MusemnofContemporan-Art SculptureGarden,SmithsonianInstitution Lewis and SusanAlanilow
Cologne,AluseumLudwig Washington, DC, National Galler\-of.Art Brice.Marden, courtesy.MatthewAlarks
Dallas, DallasMuseum ofArt Washington, DC,The PhiUips Collection Gallen,-, NewYork
DesAloines, L\, DesMoinesArtCenter Wichita, KS,^^lchita.Art.Museum The.Margulies FamilyCollection
Detroit, The DetroitInstitute ofArts Youngstown, OH, The BuderInstituteof Courtesyof.Marlborough Galler\-,NewYork
Diisseldorf, KunstsammlungXordrhein- American.Art MarlboroughInternationalFine.Art
Westfalen Zurich. Kunsthaus Ziirich AlarxCollection, BerHn
Eindhoven, The Netherlands, Stedelijk\an Galerie Hans.Mayer, Diisseldorf
Abbemuseum CourtesvThomas.Ammann Fine.Art, Galerie.MarionAlever, Paris
Fort\^brth, TX..Modern.\rt.Museumof Zurich .\driana and Robert.Mnuchin
W
Fort brth Galerie Bruno Bishofberger, Zurich Honoria DonnellyAlurphy, courtesySalan-
Houston,TheAlenil Collection CourtesyGalerie Bruno Bishofberger, der-O'ReillyGalleries, Inc.,NewYork
Humlebaek, Denmark, Louisiana.Museum Zurich PatsyR. and Ray-mond D. Nasher, Dallas
ofAlodemArt Courtesv.MarcBlondeau, Paris .Muriel KallisNewman
IowaCity",The L*niversit\'ofIowa.Museum CollectionImiaund Norman Braman Onnasch Collection, Berlin
of.\rt Eli and Ed\-the L. BroadCollection The Pace Galler\-, NewYork
Lincoln, NE, Sheldon.Memorial.\rtGal- Eli Broad FamilyFoundation. Santa Ron and.Ann Pizzuri
len,-, L'niversit}-ofNebraska .Monica, California Richard and LoisPlehn, NewYork
London,TateGallery Collection Leo Castelli, NewYork CollectionofKateRothko Prizel
LosAngeles,The.Museum ofContempor- Cohen Galler}-, NewYork Regis Corporation,.MinneapoHs,.Minnesota
ary.Art Paula Cooper, NewYork Collection ofChristopher Rothko
Madrid,Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Douglas S. Cramer Saatchi Collection, London
.Minneapolis, Walker.ArtCenter AndrewJ. Crispo Collection, NewYork Seibu Department Stores, Ltd, Tok\-o
Newark,TheNewarkAluseum StefanT. Edlis Collection Sonnabend Collection,NewYork
NewHaven, Beinecke Rare Bookand Collection oftheAirandAirs Barney SouthwesternBell Corporation, San
TX
.ManuscriptLibrary-, Yale Lniversitv" .A.Ebsworth Foundation, St. Louis .Antonio,
NewHaven, Yale Lniversitv"ArtGaller\' .MrsJack.M. Farris AirHiroshiTeshigahara
NewYork,The Brookly-nAluseum Richard L. Feigen, NewYork LucienTreillard
NewYork, Solomon R.Guggenheim Collection FR.AC de Bourgogne, Dijon S. andJ.Vandermolen
Aluseum Frohlich Collection, Stuttgart Collection RonnyAande\'elde,.Antwerp
NewYork,The.Metropolitan.Museum of JWFroehlich L^K, Ltd Galerie.Michael Werner, Cologne andNew
.-Art Galerie 1900A 2000, PariWs York
NewYork, Whitney.Museumof.American Collection of.MrsMctor Ganz .Mrand.Mrs Bagley\\right
..Art CourtesyBarbara Gladstone Gallen,-, New DonaldA'oungGallery, Seattie
Norfolk. \A,The ChryslerMuseum York
Pully/Lausanne, F.AEAlusee d'.AxtContem- .Mrand.Mrs Ronald Greenberg, St. Louis and lenderswhowish to remainanommous
porain Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne and Paris
Oberlin, OH,AllenAlemorial .ArtAluseum, GabrieleHenkelCollection, courtesyHans
Oberlin College Strelow, Diisseldorf
Otterlo, The Netherlands, Rijksmuseum The Estate ofEva Hesse and courtesy
Kroller-Aluller Robert.MillerGallerv, NewYork