New York School

About

Robert Sandelson is proud to present works by four artists of the New York School: Hans Hofmann, Richard Pousette-Dart, David Smith and Jack Tworkov. The exhibition will include works from the 1940s to the 1960s that widely reflect this influential movement. They range from early, more figurative works inspired by surrealism to abstract expressionist and later more geometric pieces. The New York School was an informal group of artists active in New York in the 1950s and is well known as one of the pivotal movements in the development of post-war art. While its artists' backgrounds were extremely diverse and their specific artistic aims often differed, they all shared a concern for radical abstraction and the importance of the artistic gesture. In their search for a new, free mode of expression, they rejected most of the styles that had come before. Thus they forged a new and uniquely American form of art. Hans Hofmann (1880—1966) is internationally acclaimed as the earliest and perhaps the key figure of the New York School. Born in Germany and having studied in Paris, Hofmann provided a vital link to European modernism and was renowned as a teacher as well as an artist. He founded art schools in Munich and, after emigrating in 1932, also in New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Larry Rivers, Louise Nevelson and Frank Stella were amongst his pupils. Richard Pousette-Dart (1916—1992) was one of the youngest of the New York School. His early work is rich in esoteric and spiritual symbolism and he was the first abstract expressionist to paint large-scale canvases in the early 1940s. In his later career, he created dense and vibrantly coloured neo-pointillist works. David Smith (1906—1965) directly inspired Sir Anthony Caro and a whole generation of sculptors with his three dimensional work, but never ceased painting and drawing prolifically throughout his life. The exhibition includes a number of his characteristic calligraphic works as well as some of his iconic spray drawings — echoes of his sculptures on paper. Jack Tworkov (1900—1982) was born in Poland and moved to New York at the age of 13. Early paintings are characterised by the use of gestural brush strokes. In later work, Tworkov balances formality and free expression to become more controlled and geometric. Many museums have dedicated exhibitions to this internationally celebrated group. Most recently, the Guggenheim Museum showed a Pousette-Dart retrospective in Venice and New York in 2007. It also organised David Smith's centennial exhibition in New York in 2006 together with the Centre Pompidou and the Tate Modern.