Magazine

Un Art Autre - Abstraction in Postwar Paris at Levy Gorvy

In 1952, the French art critic and curator Michel Tapié coined the phrase “Un Art Autre,” meaning “art of another kind,” to refer to a trend he perceived in abstract art away from rationality, and...

Jane Benson’s Abstract Interpretations of Suffragette Mona Caird's Revolutionary Work

When German author W.G. Sebald died in 2001, he was considered the most talented English-language author alive. The Rings of Saturn, published in 1995, was among his most beloved books. In 2017, B...

5 Abstract Art Exhibitions to See During the Biennale 2019

Today we offer our round up of five of the most exciting abstract art exhibitions you can see while visiting the 2019 Venice Biennale. The 58th International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia ...

6 Sculptures Inspired by Nature You Can See This Summer

An upcoming exhibition in London this summer promises viewers a unique opportunity to examine the intersection of figuration and abstraction in contemporary sculpture, by way of an assortment of s...

Lee Krasner at the Barbican - A Look at An Artist of Her Own

This summer, The Barbican Art Gallery in London will mount Lee Krasner: Living Colour, the first European retrospective of the work of Lee Krasner in more than half a century. The exhibition will ...

Joan Mitchell's Polyptych Paintings Land at David Zwirner

Visitors to The Long Run exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York (which closes 5 May 2019) were no doubt transfixed when they first set eyes on the selection of large-scale dipty...

Why Mohamed Melehi Was Crucial for Postcolonial Moroccan Art

A new exhibition titled New Waves: Mohamed Melehi and the Casablanca Art School, at The Mosaic Rooms in London, brings to light the artistic achievements of Mohamed Melehi (b. 1936), an influentia...

Robert Motherwell's Monumental Approach to Painting

Some words do not retain the same meaning over time. Monumental is one such word. Its value— at least in relation to painting—is currently being tested in Sheer Presence: Monumental Paintings by R...

In The Spotlight - Georgia O'Keeffe's Gorgeous Watercolors

It may be hard to imagine a time when Georgia O’Keeffe was unsure of herself, or lacked confidence in her technique. Today, looking back at photographs of her knowing stare, her eyes glistening wi...

Janet Echelman’s Monumental Hanging Abstractions

A new, monumental, outdoor art installation recently premiered in the air space above The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. Titled Earthtime 1.26 (Hong Kong), it is the newest work by Janet Echelman, ...

Art Of Desire - Huguette Caland at Tate St Ives

This summer, Lebanese-born artist Huguette Caland will have her first solo museum exhibition in the United Kingdom, at the Tate St Ives in Cornwall. Born in 1931 in Beirut, Caland moved to Paris i...

Hirshhorn Extends Charline von Heyl’s Critically Acclaimed Exhibition

Two months after it opened at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, Snake Eyes, a retrospective of the work of Charline von Heyl, was closed to the public—a casualty of a pr...

Anton Ginzburg’s Interpretations of Eastern Europe's Modernist-Formal Vocabulary

For the past few years, Russian-born multi-media artist Anton Ginzburg has been exploring novel ways to bridge trends in global contemporary art with the aesthetic principles of early Russian Mode...

Victor Vasarely's Shaping Forms at Centre Pompidou Paris

For the first time in more than 50 years, a major Victor Vasarely retrospective is on view at a French museum. Centre Pompidou opened Vasarely: Sharing Forms this past February, bringing together ...

Whitney Celebrates the 1960s Color Paintings in a New Exhibition

Bob Thompson died of a heroine overdose at age 28, but he completed nearly 1000 paintings and drawings in his brief career. The Whitney Museum of American Art celebrated his work in a 1996 ret...

5 Current and Upcoming Exhibitions of Female Abstract Artists to Visit

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are taking time to draw attention to five of our favorite exhibitions by female abstract artists in 2019. Some are on view right now, others are upc...

Blog Home Emma Kunz's Drawings, Between Spirituality and Abstraction

This Spring, Serpentine Gallery in London will open Emma Kunz - Visionary Drawings, the first exhibition of the work of Emma Kunz (1892–1963) in the United Kingdom. A Swiss-born Spiritualist, Kunz...

Ellsworth Kelly's Windows at Centre Pompidou

Right before he died in 2015, Ellsworth Kelly donated “Window, Museum of Modern Art, Paris” (1949), to Centre Pompidou. Regarded as his masterpiece, the painting has confounded viewers, critics, a...

The Abstract Art Inside the Schulhof Collection

When Hannelore B. Schulhof died in 2012, she bequeathed eighty works of art to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, with the instruction that they be held in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Ve...

Norman Lewis’s American Totem, Whitney Museum's Newest Acquisition

The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York recently announced its acquisition of “American Totem” (1960) by Norman Lewis, the first painting by Lewis to enter the Whitney collection. The acqui...

The Art of Richard Pousette-Dart Is On Point

To the American artist Richard Pousette-Dart (1916 – 1992), the circle was a symbol of eternal life. He considered its form to be an expression not only of eternity but of other universal truths, ...

Norman Lewis, a Neglected Gem of Abstract Expressionism

When the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts mounted “Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis” in 2015, the exhibition was a revelation to most viewers. The subject of the show, the American painter Nor...

The Hypnotizing World of Franco Grignani

This February, the m.a.x. museo and Chiasso Cultural Centre in Switzerland will open an exhibition exploring the career of Franco Grignani (1908 – 1999). Although you may never have heard of Grign...

When Piero Manzoni Made Abstract Art with Achromes

On 14 February 2019, Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles will open an exhibition focused on the “Achromes” of Piero Manzoni. Titled Piero Manzoni: Materials of His Time, and curated by Rosalia Pasquali...

At Yossi Milo Gallery, A Group Show of Artists Painting with Light

On 17 January 2019, Yossi Milo Gallery in New York will open a group exhibition examining the contemporary state of Concrete Photography. Titled Painting with Light, the exhibition will include wo...

Connecting Points of Milan Houser

Czech artist Milan Houser is proving himself to be a perfect aesthetic representative of this era, in which humanity more and more seeks beauty and meaning in ambiguity. So much is known that we l...

Why Francoise Sullivan Was Essential for the Quebec Art Scene

A Françoise Sullivan retrospective is currently touring Canada in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the publication of Refus Global (Global Refusal), the most important art manifesto in Canad...

Achille Perilli's Geometrically Irrational Art

An exhibition featuring 35 paintings by Achille Perilli recently went on view at The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. At age 91, Perilli is the last surviving member of the Forma ...

Katarzyna Kobro and Wladyslaw Strzemiński – Stars of the Polish Avant-garde

Katarzyna Kobro and Wladyslaw StrzemiÅ„ski were two of the most influential Polish artists of the 20th Century. Their oeuvres are currently being explored in “A Polish Avant Garde: Katarzyna Kobro...

Ernst Caramelle, A Resume

The Museum Moderner Kunst (mumok) in Vienna, Austria, recently opened the first ever retrospective of the work of conceptual artist Ernst Caramelle. The whimsically named exhibition – Ernst Carame...

How Kim Whanki Pioneered Abstract Art in Korea

For the first time in generations it seems possible that North and South Korea might unify as one nation. To mark this important historical moment, The Powerlong Museum in Shanghai, China, recentl...

The Met Explores the Profound Legacy of Abstract Expressionism

The Met Fifth Avenue in New York opened Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera this week. Featuring more than 50 major works by some of the most compelling abstract artists of the past century, the ...

Sadamasa Motonaga, Between High and Low Art

An exhibition of mid-career abstract paintings by Sadamasa Motonaga is currently on view at McCaffrey Fine Art in New York. Motonaga was one of the earliest members of the Gutai Group, an experime...

The Spatial Reliefs of Hélio Oiticica

An exhibition of early works by Hélio Oiticica at Galerie Lelong & Co. New York is worth a trip to see, as it offers a glimpse into the pure plastic aestheticism that formed the basis of the o...

Arshile Gorky to Get the First Italian Retrospective in 2019

The Ca' Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art in Venice will mount an ambitious Arshile Gorky retrospective in 2019. Titled “Arshile Gorky: 1904 – 1948,” it will coincide with the run of the ...

The Joy of the Colorful Abstract Art at Mnuchin Gallery

Mnuchin Gallery in New York is currently showing The Joy of Color, a celebratory group show of colorful abstract art dating from 1939 to 2018. The exhibition offers a unique glimpse into the multi...

Saluting Yun Hyong-keun, Star of the Dansaekhwa Movement

Eleven years after his death, Korean abstract artist Yun Hyong-keun is finally receiving the celebration he deserves, with simultaneous exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporar...

Why We Should Pay Attention to Hungarian Artist Ilona Keserü

It is her love of art that makes Ilona Keserü such a successful artist. It is her appreciation for the art of others, and the art of other times, that helped her become one of the greatest artists...

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Pays Homage to the American Minimal Art

The legacy of American Minimal art is on view in Monumental Minimal, at the Paris Pantin location of Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac. The exhibition includes more than 20 objects created by six of the mos...

The Wonders of Geometric Art of Latin America

One of the most intriguing exhibitions of abstract art anywhere in the world right now is on view at the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Paris. Titled Southern Geometries, from Mexico...

Shedding a Light on Andy Warhol's Shadows

This month, “Shadows” (1978-79) by Andy Warhol will be partially on view at the headquarters of Calvin Klein, at 205 W 39th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The most ambitious work Warhol ever created...

Centre Pompidou Takes a Fresh Look at Cubism in a Comprehensive New Show

On 17 October, the first major Cubist exhibition in Paris in 65 years opens at The Centre Pompidou. Cubism (1907-1917) brings together more than 300 works in an attempt to expand our understanding...

Getting the Most in the Simplest Form - Anne Truitt at Matthew Marks

A rare exhibition of paintings by Anne Truitt is currently on view at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York. Truitt (1921 – 2004) is mostly known for her sculptures, or structures as they are most oft...

The Genius of Blinky Palermo

When I think of Blinky Palermo I think of two things: the incomplete becoming complete, and the underestimated becoming profound. If you know the life story of this artist, you might think I am tr...

Grand Palais Welcomes a Grand Retrospective of Joan Miró Works

On 3 October, the Grand Palais in Paris will open Miró, an ambitious retrospective examining the oeuvre of Joan Miró. It has been 44 years since the museum has so honored this Modernist pioneer wh...

5 Abstract Artworks From 'Soul of a Nation' Exhibition of African American Artists

The monumental exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power opened this month at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. This is the third venue for this extraordinary show, which opened at...

Dana Gordon in Paris – New Abstract Painting from New York

Dana Gordon's elegant, powerful new work sings beautifully in its refined setting in Paris's Galerie Metanoia, on rue Quincampoix in the Beaubourg neighborhood. "Lucky Paris" is the response from ...

Barbara Takenaga's Fluctuations of Space

DC Moore Gallery in New York recently opened Outset, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Barbara Takenaga. These paintings, however, might be better described as worlds. They possess a sort of g...