The Art of This Century Gallery

The Art of This Century Gallery

The Art of This Century Gallery was opened by Peggy Guggenheim at 30 W. 57th Street in New York City in October-November 1942. The gallery exhibited important contemporary art until it closed in 1947, when Guggenheim returned to Europe. The gallery was designed by architect, artist, and visionary Frederick Kiesler.

The gallery

The gallery showcased works by established European artists with an emphasis on Surrealism, and also exhibited the works of lesser known American artists, often for the first time.

The European artists that were exhibited at the Art of This Century Gallery included Jean Arp, Georges Braque, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand Leger, Andre Masson, Roberto Matta, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso and Yves Tanguy.

The American artists shown at the gallery included William Baziotes, Alexander Calder, Joseph Cornell, David Hare, Hans Hofmann, Gerome Kamrowski, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Richard Pousette-Dart, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Charles Seliger, Clyfford Still, and Robert De Niro, Sr..

New York avant-garde during World War II

Abstract Art was not new to the New York artists. The group called The American Abstract Artists (AAA) was established in 1935. Many of its members left New York in 1942 during World War II, to join the US Armed Forces. During the war years there were few male vanguard American arists remaining in New York. Generally the only artists or critics who did not participate in World War II were either foreigners, illegal aliens, 4F classified, draft dodgers, conscientious objectors, exempt or overage individuals. The artists who stayed behind during the war belonged to one of these categories. These male artists along with a few female artists captured the few galleries who were willing to show their work along with European modernists. This group of artists was called the Uptown Group.

Uptown Group prior to 1945

*Adolph Gottlieb
*David Hare
*Robert Motherwell
*Jackson Pollock
*Richard Pousette-Dart
*Ad Reinhardt
*Theodoros Stamos

Barnett Newman, a well respected writer and critic who also organized exhibitions and wrote catalogs became only later a member of the Uptown Group.

Jackson Pollock had his first solo show in 1943 at the Art of This Century Gallery, which provided him with a yearly stipend. He together with his wife the painter Lee Krasner, left New York City in 1945 and moved to the Springs, East Hampton, Long Island.

Clyfford Still, a Californian who at the end of 1945 moved to New York, soon joined the Uptown Group and became associated with the prestigious uptown gallery: "The Art of This Century".

Thomas Hess, managing director of Art News described the Uptown Group:

:Newman, Gottlieb, Rothko and Still each thought (and thinks) himself the greatest painter in the world. That one might owe a debt to another becomes not a matter of simple ordinary fact, but a major issue of debate-like a trial for high treason. They made a tactical alliance, not a team, nor a group style, nor even a tendency. ("Barnett Newman", Thomas B. Hess, New York: Walker, 1969)

Guggenheim closed the doors of The Art of This Century Gallery in 1947. The representation of her artists was taken over by Betty Parsons, an artist and a prominent New York socialite.

ee also

*Dada
*Surrealism
*Abstract expressionism
*Peggy Guggenheim Collection

References

* American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s An Illustrated Survey ISBN 0-9677994-1-4
* New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists ISBN 0-9677994-0-6
* Susan Davidson and Philip Rylands, eds. (2005). "Peggy Guggenheim & Fredrick Kiesler: The Story of Art of This Century" (exhibition catalogue), Venice: Peggy Guggenheim Collection | ISBN 0-89207-320-9


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Art of This Century gallery — was opened by Peggy Guggenheim at 30 W. 57th Street in New York City on October 20, 1942. The gallery occupied two commercial spaces on the seventh floor of a building that was part of the midtown arts district including the Museum of Modern Art …   Wikipedia

  • Art of this Century — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Art of this Century (The Art of This Century Gallery) es el nombre de una galería de arte que Peggy Guggenheim abrió en el número 30 de la calle 57 Oeste de Nueva York en octubre noviembre de 1942. La galería expuso… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Art of This Century — Einladung zur Eröffnung von „Art of this Century“ Art of This Century war ein von Peggy Guggenheim am 20. Oktober 1942 eröffnetes Museum in Manhattan, New York, das gleichzeitig Galerie war. Den Auftrag für die Gestaltung der Räume hatte sie dem… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • The Meeting House Law Building & Gallery — Formerly Vincent Mennonite Church The Meeting House Law Building in 2009 Established 1750; Rebuilt 1889 …   Wikipedia

  • The Art of the Matter — is short story in Frederick Forsyth s book The Veteran (2001). Set around the turn of the millennium in London, it tells the story of a middle aged, impoverished, out of work actor, Trumpington Gore, who seeks revenge after being defrauded by the …   Wikipedia

  • The Art Institute of Boston — infobox University name=The Art Institute of Boston established= 1912 type= Private president= |president= Joseph B. Moore dean= Stan Trecker affiliations = Lesley University undergrad = 660 postgrad = 130 city = Boston state = country = U.S.… …   Wikipedia

  • Art criticism — is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. One of criticism s goals is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation.The variety of artistic… …   Wikipedia

  • List of years in art — This page indexes the individual year in art pages; see also Art periods. This is a list of the Visual Arts only; for Music see Timeline of musical events. NOTOC 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s 1920s 1910s 1900s 1890s 1880s 1870s… …   Wikipedia

  • Art of Australia — The Art of Australia refers to both Australian Aboriginal art and Post Colonial art. Australia has produced notable artists from both Western traditions and Indigenous Australian traditions. The importance and sacredness of the land is a uniting… …   Wikipedia

  • 1947 in art — List of years in ArtEvents*Peggy Guggenheim closes The Art of This Century Gallery *Journalist Tancrede Marcil Jr. coins the term Les Automatistes in a review of their Montreal exhibition. *Norman Rockwell produces the first of his Four Seasons… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”