Hofstra University Museum of Art: Pushing Boundaries: American Art After World War II

Joan Mitchell (American, 1925-1992) Metro, ca. 1965, oil on canvas, 20 x 17 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Milton Gardner, HU80.15 © Estate of Joan Mitchell

Yonia Fain (American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) The Throne, no date, oil on Masonite, 54 1/4 x 48 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the artist, HU2012.21

Robert Indiana (American, 1928-2018) Love, 1968, screenprint on paper, 22 x 22 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of unknown donor, HU2003.13 © 2019 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY Benny Andrews (American, 1930-2006) Chasty, 1961, mixed media on canvas, 18 1/4 x 24 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker, HU85.2 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

© 2019 Hofstra University Museum of Art All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the Hofstra University Museum of Art.

HOFSTR A UNIVERSIT Y MUSEUM OF ART

January 29-August 16, 2019 Emily Lowe Gallery

This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

FOREWORD

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t the end of World War II, the United States not only was victorious in its military achievements but also was triumphant as the artistic and cultural center of the Western world. As with much else after the war, the art world shifted from Paris and a shattered Europe to a relatively untouched America and particularly, to New York City. European artists, such as George Grosz and Yonia Fain, immigrated to the United States during and after the war and made their homes in New York City, where major museums, galleries, and collectors were located. Here, these artists, many of them of the European avant-garde, met and mingled with a younger American generation brought up during the Great Depression and instilled with ideals of freedom and originality. It was a time in America where anything, for some, seemed possible. Much postwar American art (1945-1970) mirrored the American character; it was bold, nonconformist, and pioneering. The art from this period is often characterized as being dominated by variations on abstraction – experimental and often large-scale, which challenged and overshadowed traditional figurative art.

As Deputy Director and Chief Curator Karen T. Albert explains in her essay, there was, however, much more than the abstraction vs. figurative battles taking place in the art world. Such an either/or approach to art movements may seem to make ideas easier to comprehend, but in simplifying so dramatically, this approach ignores the many nuances and melding of influences that affected artists and their creative output. During the mid-20th century, there was in fact a tumult and flurry of art movements and styles emerging, a back and forth and new again.

This exhibition illustrates some of those great variations in the visual arts that existed alongside and in reaction to one another during this time, often in step with societal changes. Technology, for instance, put television sets in the home, greatly increasing the ability to reach consumers through commercials.

Protests related to civil rights, the Vietnam War, and women’s equality all point to pulsating social unrest.

In this exhibition, we can see evidence of these forces in artists’ works of art: the rise of consumerism and mass consumption in Warhol’s and Indiana’s works; political upheaval and social activism in Jacob Lawrence’s and Yonia Fain’s works; and spirituality and experimentation in the works of Joan Mitchell and Robert Rauschenberg. This was a time of national change and social upheaval, a moment when art, likewise, stretched definitions and pushed boundaries.

I wish to thank Karen T. Albert, who organized Pushing Boundaries: American Art After World War II with works of art from the collections of the Hofstra University Museum of Art. The exhibition reveals the depth of those collections and, I hope, will encourage visitors to look at art and embrace its varieties, ambiguities, and complexities.

Nancy Richner Director Hofstra University Museum of Art

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ESSAY

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he atrocities and horrors perpetrated during World War II shattered beliefs about the inherent goodness of humanity, and accepted norms were questioned. As much of the world was coping with the harrowing aftermath of the war, physical borders were redrawn, new alliances were created, and national identities were re-examined and transformed. America, whose territory was relatively unscathed by a war that was fought largely in Europe and the Pacific, saw a new wave of immigrants that included numerous artists. Many of the artists settled in New York City and, as the postwar economy in the United States flourished, it became the new center of the art world.

American art in the postwar period, referring to works created between 1945 and 1970, did not produce one dominant style or ideological movement. Visual artists continued to push against traditional concepts, building upon the aesthetic ideas of the avant-garde that began at the turn of the 20th century. Representational art, depicting reality, vied with non-objective modes of expression. Some artists advocated for pure abstraction, while others focused on realistic portrayals of man’s humanity. In the canon, or accepted record, of art history, the emphasis of postwar American art is given to non-objective and abstract works of art, i.e., works that are an expression of the individual artist. However, the art world in the United States during this period was much more diverse in its movements and styles.

Postwar American art witnessed a shift from largely representational and figurative styles prevalent before World War II to non-objective painting. The change reflected the assumption that the previous styles could not effectively illustrate the new reality left by a Second World War and the ensuing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Abstract expressionism, with a basis in the surrealist objective of unleashing the subconscious, emphasized the individual artist’s approach to self-expression. It became the dominant style in the 1950s, gaining popular and critical acceptance. Art critic Clement Greenberg, along with others, championed non-objective art and was dismissive of representational styles and popular culture. In 1949, Life magazine famously ran a feature article titled “Jackson Pollock. Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?” Abstract expressionism included a range of styles from gestural abstraction to color field painting. It was a new modern art that abandoned stylistic conventions of the past and was self-reflective, focused on the feelings of the maker. The stylistic breadth can be seen in the paintings of Perle Fine, Joan Mitchell, and Stanley Twardowicz and the prints of Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, and Robert Motherwell.

By the end of the 1950s, abstract expressionism reigned. AbEx, or the New York School – as abstract expressionism was also known – was promoted as a truly American art form and was used in the expanding propaganda war against the Soviet Union. The artists’ individualistic style and freedom of expression were seen as opposing the ideal of the Soviet collective and the state-approved artistic style of socialist realism. In 1958, the Museum of Modern Art (New York) organized The New American Painting Exhibition, which included non-objective works by Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, among others. The exhibition traveled to eight European countries, serving as an example of the perceived cultural and economic superiority of modern American art.

While the art world establishment, with Greenberg at the lead, touted abstract expressionism as the only acceptable postwar artistic movement, other artists pushed back, rejected that narrative, and worked in styles that reflected their personal beliefs. Some artists focused on purely aesthetic considerations, while others expressed their concern for current social and political issues. Minimalism and conceptual art challenged the emotional qualities of abstract expressionism. Objective and rational, minimalism’s theoretical framework

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emphasized control and order, subverting a work of art’s expressive role. The work itself was their content.

Conceptual art, indebted to Marcel Duchamp’s theories, focused on the importance of the idea and its development rather than the final product; that is, the art-making process was of greater significance than the resulting work of art. The lessening of the intrinsic value of the work of art also countered the importance of traditional art institutions and the art market. It was a critique of the conspicuous consumption culture of postwar American society. Prints by Ellsworth Kelly, Sol LeWitt, and Ad Reinhardt are examples of these non-objective styles.

By the 1960s, the rise in consumerism and mass consumption led to the emergence of another artistic style, pop art. It challenged abstract expressionism by questioning the distinctions between high and low art through the use of mass-produced popular imagery. Using pre-existing images acquired from commercial sources, which were altered and often repeated, artists also employed nontraditional materials and commercial techniques. Abstraction, while still present, was no longer emphasized; rather the human content, representational and figurative in style, became dominant. Although pop art began in Great Britain, it became a quintessential American style, exemplified in the work by Jasper Johns, Robert Indiana, and Larry Rivers.

The 1960s was also an era of social activism and political upheaval; social norms and governing authority were continually questioned. Numerous artists were intent upon capturing the human experience and retained elements of a representational or figurative style. Often merging techniques and elements from a range of styles, they expressed their concern for current social and political issues. Jacob Lawrence, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol all depicted current events in their prints, referencing, for instance, the civil rights movement and the moon landing.

Many artists did not fit into specific stylistic categories. As their work was difficult to categorize, it was often ignored or undervalued by the art world establishment. Artists such as Leonard Baskin and Yonia Fain felt compelled to express their disillusionment with wartime events and man’s inhumanity to man. Communicating a message about how they viewed society, their works addressed issues such as nuclear war and the Holocaust.

While the art world lauded abstract expressionism and the non-objective movements that followed, many artists pushed against both traditional styles and this new emphasis on formalism, continuing to work in figurative and representational styles. In the accepted narrative of art history in the mid-20th century, it can appear that abstract expressionism and pop art were the only styles implemented. In reality, numerous artists continued to work figuratively but did not receive the same attention as the more popular and critically acclaimed artists working in the accepted modes. Working in a broad range of styles, both figurative and non-objective, artists continued to explore the notion of “what is art?” and pushed the boundaries of traditional art in content, process, and form.

Karen T. Albert Deputy Director and Chief Curator Hofstra University Museum of Art

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WORKS OF ART

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Benny Andrews (American, 1930-2006) Chasty, 1961 Mixed media on canvas 18 1/4 x 24 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker, HU85.2 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York During his long career, Andrews depicted the human figure, capturing the everyday life of the individual with a focus on issues of inequality and injustice. As various abstract artistic movements gained critical and popular acclaim during the 1960s, Andrews maintained his commitment to figurative work. Combining elements from abstraction and figuration, his work is difficult to categorize. As seen in Chasty, Andrews utilized a collage technique that combined cut and torn paper and cloth with oil paint on canvas. His work maintains a roughness and unfinished quality that brings intensity and authenticity to his painting.

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Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000) Man of Peace, 1952 Woodcut on paper 60 x 31 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of William D. Levine, HU78.129 © The Estate of Leonard Baskin; courtesy Galerie St. Etienne, New York Baskin was a figurative artist working in a realistic style at a time when non-objective and abstract modes were critically acclaimed and most popular. Baskin strongly believed that art should be a witness to the political and social issues of the times. In his work, he championed the use of the figure and depicted human experiences of grief, love, hope, and despair, emphasizing the strength and suffering of mankind.

Initially a sculptor, Baskin began making prints in the 1950s, mastering the techniques of lithography, engraving, and woodcuts. He became best known for his monumentally scaled woodcut prints, such as Man of Peace. Suggestive of the atrocities perpetuated during World War II and nuclear war, Baskin used delicate and twisting lines to join the figure and the barbed wire. The dead bird, or the dove of peace alluded to in the title, casts a shadow of hopelessness over the image.

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Jimmy Ernst (American, born Germany, 1920-1984) Crystal Night, 1963 Oil on canvas 34 x 41 1/4 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the artist, HU69.4 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Ernst, the son of the dada and surrealist artist Max Ernst and art historian/journalist Louise Straus, spent his early years in Cologne, Germany.

Under scrutiny by the German government in the 1930s, Straus, a noted Jewish intellectual, sent her son to live with her family while she left for Paris. Jimmy Ernst immigrated to the United States in 1938, and by 1941 he brought his father to America. Ernst lost contact with his mother, who was seized in France in 1944. She was deported on one of the last trains to Auschwitz and did not survive the war.

The painting Crystal Night refers to Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), which took place on November 9, 1938, in Germany and Austria.

Thousands of Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues were damaged or destroyed by the Nazis. Physical attacks and arrests led to the deportation of many Jews to concentration camps. Ernst fills his canvas with fragmented lines and colors, which evoke the shards of broken glass from the shattered windowpanes that covered city streets.

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Yonia Fain (American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) Holocaust, no date Oil on linen 79 1/2 x 132 1/4 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the artist, HU2012.10

Fain, a Russian-born (the area is now in the Ukraine) Holocaust survivor, rejected pure abstraction in his work and always felt compelled to “paint history.” He passionately wanted the world to always remember the events of World War II and the Holocaust but with a sense of hope and commitment to humanity. Employing expressive line and color, Fain depicted the despair, atrocities, and horrors that he witnessed as he endured a treacherous journey from Poland and Russia to the Shanghai ghetto. He arrived in New York City, via Mexico City, in 1953. Fain served as a professor of art history and the philosophy of art at Hofstra University from 1971 to 1985.

Despite all he had seen, Fain believed there was a purpose to his survival. He felt compelled to stand as a witness to these historical events and continued to draw daily until his death in 2013 at the age of 100.

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Yonia Fain (American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) Prisoners, 1970 Oil on canvas 26 1/4 x 50 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the artist, HU2012.14

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Yonia Fain (American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) The Scream, 1962 Oil on canvas 48 x 35 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the artist, HU2012.15

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Yonia Fain (American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) The Throne, no date Oil on Masonite 54 1/4 x 48 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the artist, HU2012.21

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Perle Fine (American, 1905-1988) Convolution, 1966 Oil, ink, and pencil on linen 49 7/8 x 49 7/8 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the artist, HU68.58 © A. E. Artworks, LLC

A significant figure in the postwar era, Fine was one of the first women to be admitted to the Artists’ Club, a group of artists who met to talk about their work and abstract expressionism as well as to socialize. She was also a member of the American Abstract Artists, where artists discussed the potential of non-objective and abstract styles. Studying at the Art Students League and with Hans Hofmann, her approach to abstraction developed from the gestural methods of applying paint in a more controlled style, which utilized a sparser composition and geometric forms.

Fine became disillusioned with the New York art world and moved to the east end of Long Island in 1954, where she continued to explore and experiment with color and form. Fine was an associate professor of painting at Hofstra University from 1962 to 1973.

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Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011) Air Frame, from the portfolio New York 10, 1965 Screenprint on Arches double weight watercolor paper 21 1/2 x 16 3/4 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker, HU79.12 © 2019 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc.; Tanglewood Press, New York; Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Frankenthaler was influenced by abstract expressionist ideas and early in her career met Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and Robert Motherwell (whom she later married). Developing her own process, she used a method of staining her canvases with turpentine-thinned paint. The color washes merged on the canvas, creating an image about color with no narrative component or illusion of depth. The “soak-stain” technique produced luminous layers where the canvas and other colors could be seen.

In Air Frame, Frankenthaler used the characteristic traits of screenprinting with its areas of flat and saturated color to her advantage. The dense blue, green, and yellow appear on the same plane with no hint of depth; the foreground and background have merged. While many of her peers relied solely on their inner emotions, Frankenthaler drew inspiration from the natural landscape.

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George Grosz (German, 1893-1959) A Mighty One on a Little Outing Surprised by Two Poets, 1942 Oil on paper mounted to Masonite 28 x 20 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the Estate of Arnott J. White, HU93.9 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York After observing the horrors of World War I, Grosz focused his work on social critique. He published drawings in many critically satirical periodicals and participated in social protests. His work during the Weimar Republic sharply criticized what Grosz viewed as the decay of German society. Grosz’s disillusionment with and anger against the military industrial complex were clearly evident in his work.

The rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in the 1930s led to his immigration to the United States in 1933, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1938. Grosz continued to give expression to his despair and cynicism, painting A Mighty One on a Little Outing Surprised by Two Poets in 1942.

The tyrannical central figure looms over the small, crouching figures of the poets. Details in the painting, such as the tattered clothing and whip marks, show the subjugation of the people, particularly artists and writers, to the authority of the state.

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Robert Indiana (American, 1928-2018) Love, 1968 Screenprint on paper 22 x 22 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of unknown donor, HU2003.13 © 2019 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY Although typically associated with pop art, Indiana’s work does not fit comfortably into this category. While he does utilize everyday objects to delve into the American experience, his work is often a critique of consumerism, and attaining the American dream is seen as a tenuous ideal.

Indiana’s work, with its bold use of graphic elements, regularly resembles advertisements.

He is best known for his iconic LOVE series, which has been rendered in a wide range of formats, including sculpture, painting, and prints. He chose the word “love” for its meaning but also for the symmetry that could be created by placing the letters in a grid format. The resulting cohesive text block has some commonality with minimalism, as it reduces the letters to their basic forms.

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Jasper Johns (American, b. 1930) Ruler, 1966 Lithograph on paper 17 5/8 x 12 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Joseph I. Singer, HU70.134 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Johns, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, initially painted in the abstract expressionist style but pushed against it as he developed his own unique style. He favored conscious control over the subconscious emotion of expressionism. His use of common objects, such as targets and flags, crossed the traditional boundaries of fine art and the everyday. The objects in his work can be interpreted as the subject matter itself, a metaphor for another idea, or a comment on society. In the lithograph Ruler, the realistically depicted measuring stick stretches across the top of the page, seemingly having dragged the ink across the paper. For Johns, the ruler is also seen as a tool for revolt against authority, as he remembers an elementary schoolmate’s defiant rebellion when she broke the teacher’s ruler. His work set in motion many of the artistic movements that followed, including pop art and conceptualism.

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Ellsworth Kelly (American, 1923-2015) Red Blue, from the portfolio X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters), 1964 21 3/4 x 17 3/4 in.

Screenprint on paper Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Milton M. Gardner, HU84.42 © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation While not adhering strictly to any one artistic movement, Kelly influenced the development of minimalism, pop art, and color field painting.

Working in a non-objective style, his works of art emphasize the use of line, color, and form and their relationships to each other. In his paintings and prints, he typically created broad areas of bold and contrasting colors that did not indicate brushstrokes or identifiable objects. Kelly relied on the tension between opposing elements to provide a sense of movement in his two-dimensional works. In Red Blue, the viewer’s eye bounces between the red form of the foreground and the blue background.

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Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) Free Space (Yellow), 1975 Screenprint and collage on Arches paper, deluxe edition 19 1/2 x 26 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Alex and Carole Rosenberg, HU88.13 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York An important abstract expressionist, Krasner embraced the idea of joining abstract form with psychological content. She worked in a range of media, including collage and large-scale paintings. While Krasner’s career was often compromised or overshadowed by her relationship and marriage to Jackson Pollock, she did gain greater recognition during her lifetime.

In Free Space (Yellow), she used saturated colors to create the hard-edged organic forms that are characteristic of her work from this period. It also demonstrates her use of collage. With a limited color palette, the screenprint vividly illustrates the interaction of color between dominant elements, creating a dialogue between positive and negative shapes. Much of Krasner’s organic imagery relates indirectly to nature.

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Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917-2000) Confrontation at the Bridge, from the portfolio An American Portrait, 1975 Screenprint on paper 19 1/2 x 26 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Alex and Carole Rosenberg, HU91.29 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York For more than 65 years, Lawrence chronicled and celebrated the African American experience. Concerned with the struggle for freedom, justice, and human dignity, he was a storyteller who often documented important historical figures and events in a serial format. Lawrence’s compositions experimented with abstraction and representation, using fluid contours, flat shapes, and a limited palette of bold colors.

When he was commissioned to create a work for An American Portrait, a portfolio published by the federal government to celebrate the 1976 bicentennial, Lawrence portrayed a nonviolent civil rights demonstration that took place in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. A group of ministers, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other demonstrators were prevented from marching into the center of the city and were arrested. In Confrontation at the Bridge, the grimaces on the faces of the people, as well as the jagged shapes in the expressively colored print, reflect the tension and emotion of that moment.

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Sol LeWitt (American, 1928-2007) Vertical Lines Not Touching (Black), 1971 Lithograph on paper 17 x 23 1/2 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Andrew Rosenberg, HU88.19 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York A leader in the conceptual art movement, LeWitt believed that the artist was a generator of ideas. Conceptual art was based on an intellectual and pragmatic action, distinctly different from expressionism. LeWitt believed the idea could be the work of art. An artist should be able to conceive of a work and then delegate its production to others. His work ranged from sculpture, painting, prints, and drawing to almost exclusively conceptual pieces that existed only as ideas or elements of the artistic process itself. The production directions, often described in the title, became the work itself, and an actual material presence was no longer required in order for it to be considered art.

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Joan Mitchell (American, 1925-1992) Metro, ca. 1965 Oil on canvas 20 x 17 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Milton Gardner, HU80.15 © Estate of Joan Mitchell Living and working in New York City, Mitchell was part of the second generation of abstract expressionists, greatly influenced by Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. Mitchell was a member of the Artists’ Club and participated in the “Ninth Street Show” of 1951. She painted in both New York and France, permanently settling in France in the late 1950s. Although she most often worked on large-scale canvases, Metro is a smaller work that retains her characteristic style. The contrasting warm and cool colors seem to float and move over the pale background. The contrast continues with the thinly applied background and the heavy impasto paint at the center. These contrasts, along with the loosely painted style, increase the tension and intensity of the painting.

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Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991) Untitled, from the portfolio New York International, 1966 Lithograph on paper 19 x 14 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker, HU79.3 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York A painter, collagist, and printmaker, Motherwell’s early work was influenced by surrealism, and he became one of the principal proponents of abstract expressionism. His mature style strikes a balance between the gestural style of expressionism and a clear compositional structure. Simple shapes and broad areas of color often appear in his work. Paintings with broad black brushstrokes, resembling calligraphic marks, convey the immediacy of an ink sketch. The “drawing” quality of his work can be seen in the lithograph Untitled. Motherwell also frequently wrote and spoke about abstract expressionism and other modern art movements.

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Lowell Nesbitt (American, 1933-1993) Small Crater, from the portfolio Moon Shot, 1969 Lithograph on black paper 22 x 29 7/8 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Reese Palley and Marilyn Arnold Palley, HU96.1.5 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Nesbitt was frequently identified as a photorealist – an artist who replicates images with exacting precision and accurate detail. Nesbitt’s work does not easily fit into this category, as his paintings and prints were more expressive and loosely drawn. He is best known for his depiction of landscapes and large-scale floral paintings.

In 1969 and 1970, he served as the official artist for the NASA space flights of Apollo 9 and Apollo 13, respectively. The NASA Art Program, beginning in 1962, commissioned visual artists to create works of art commemorating the space program and the moon landing as one of the most important events in human history. Nesbitt created a lithographic portfolio, titled Moon Shot, of seven images and one text page that included quotes from various astronauts. He was provided access to official NASA photographs on which his imagery was based.

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Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925-2008) Moon Rose, from the series Stoned Moon, 1969 Lithograph on Arches paper 51 x 35 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Roger Tilles, HU2012.50 © 2019 Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; Gemini G.E.L.; Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Rauschenberg was one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century. Through questioning the definition of art and the role of the artist, he played a critical role in moving the art world’s focus from abstract expressionism to later developments such as pop art. His experimentation with the use of materials and combining different methods, along with his belief that art should reflect the contemporary world, pushed the boundaries of traditional artmaking.

In 1969, NASA invited Rauschenberg to witness the launch of the Apollo 11 mission, allowing him to explore the facilities, meet scientists, and use official photographs. He found this a very hopeful and positive experience, particularly when compared to other current events such as the civil rights movement and Vietnam War protests. He created a series of prints, Stoned Moon, in which he transferred and manipulated images supplied

by NASA. Moon Rose is one of the lithographs from the series.

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Ad Reinhardt (American, 1913-1967) Abstract Print, from the portfolio New York International, 1966 Screenprint on plastic 12 x 12 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker, HU79.2 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Initially associated with abstract expressionism, Reinhardt’s work was based in geometric abstraction and became more abstract as he rejected expressionism in his work. Working in a minimalist style, he created his most well-known series, Black Paintings, from 1954 to 1967. Using a square format and subtle tones of black, he created what he believed was the ultimate in abstract painting: works that did not reference anything but themselves. Abstract Print, from the portfolio New York International, a screenprint on plastic, utilizes the same color selection and format. For Reinhardt, black square was the purest color and shape.

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Larry Rivers (American, 1923-2002) Black Revue, from the portfolio Boston Massacre, 1970 Screenprint with embossing and collage on paper 19 1/8 x 27 in. sheet Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Victor Liss, HU79.38.8 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York The work of Rivers defies categorization. With an interest in retaining the essence of humanity in his work, Rivers’ artistic style employs aspects of both abstraction and figuration, serving as a connection between the gestural style of abstract expressionism and the commercial images of pop art.

He created a portfolio of prints titled Boston Massacre to mark its bicentennial. The individual prints draw connections between the historic incident and current events such as the civil rights struggle and the war in Vietnam. In Black Revue, three African American figures are represented: Crispus Attucks, regarded as the first person killed in the Boston Massacre and the Revolutionary War; James Meredith, a civil rights activist shot while marching; and American poet Yusef Komunyakaa.

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Ben Shahn (American, born Lithuania, 1898-1969) Mask, 1958 Gouache on paper 25 3/4 x 19 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Milton M. Gardner, HU70.102 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Shahn was a Lithuanian-born artist who is best known for his social realist style and political activism. Social realists depicted scenes from American life that focused on life’s struggles, economic hardship, and social injustice. From his 1932 paintings of the Sacco and Vanzetti trial to the end of his career, Shahn captured the events of his time.

In 1956-1957, when Archibald MacLeish was writing his play J.B., he asked Shahn to design a devil face and a god face to be worn by the actors.

Mask is one of the painted versions of the devil face. It was also produced as a screenprint in 1959 and as a lithograph in 1963. In this work, the eyes, nose, and mouth are given additional prominence by exposing the paper beneath.

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Stanley Twardowicz (American, 1917-2008) #5, 1957 Oil enamel on canvas 42 x 34 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Lillian Dodson, HU2011.15 © Estate of Stanley Twardowicz Twardowicz was an abstract expressionist painter who initially garnered attention in the 1950s. His work was featured on the cover of Art in America’s “New Talent Annual 1958.” He was also a photographer noted for his work documenting the “Beat Generation.” Twardowicz was a professor of fine arts at Hofstra University from 1964 until his retirement in 1993.

The biomorphic shapes and patterns seen in his early paintings, such as #5, seem to naturally ebb and flow. The impression of movement was created by pouring oil-based enamel paint directly onto the canvas. As his style developed, Twardowicz’s interest in color became the prominent element of his work. His later paintings juxtaposed linear areas of colors made up of thin layers of pigments, sometimes applied with an airbrush.

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Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) Birmingham Race Riot, from the portfolio X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters), 1964 Screenprint on paper 20 x 24 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Milton M. Gardner, HU83.47 © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Beginning in the 1960s, Warhol created numerous works of art by appropriating images from popular culture. He pared them down to their essential elements while he created repetitious images of these objects or individuals, such as Campbell’s soup cans and Marilyn Monroe. He was also inspired by advertisements and comic strips; this style became known as pop art. Working in a variety of media, he breached the division between high and low art forms.

The image for Warhol’s Birmingham Race Riot was taken from a newspaper account of a civil rights protest and police action that took place in 1963. Warhol appropriated the grainy photograph, then cropped and manipulated it to intensify the dramatic qualities of the image.

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Exhibition Checklist Benny Andrews

Yonia Fain

Robert Indiana

(American, 1930-2006) Chasty, 1961 Mixed media on canvas 18 1/4 x 24 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker HU85.2

(American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) The Scream, 1962 Oil on canvas 48 x 35 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of the artist HU2012.15

(American, 1928-2018) Love, 1968 Screenprint on paper 22 x 22 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of unknown donor HU2003.13

Yonia Fain

(American, b. 1930) Ruler, 1966 Lithograph on paper 17 5/8 x 12 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. Joseph I. Singer HU70.134

Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000) Man of Peace, 1952 Woodcut on paper 60 x 31 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of William D. Levine HU78.129

Jimmy Ernst (American, born Germany, 1920-1984) Crystal Night, 1963 Oil on canvas 34 x 41 1/4 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of the artist HU69.4

Yonia Fain (American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) Holocaust, no date Oil on linen 79 1/2 x 132 1/4 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of the artist HU2012.10

Yonia Fain (American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) Prisoners, 1970 Oil on canvas 26 1/4 x 50 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of the artist HU2012.14

36

(American, born Russia [now Ukraine], 1913-2013) The Throne, no date Oil on Masonite 54 1/4 x 48 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of the artist HU2012.21

Perle Fine (American, 1905-1988) Convolution, 1966 Oil, ink, and pencil on linen 49 7/8 x 49 7/8 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of the artist HU68.58

Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011) Air Frame, from the portfolio New York 10, 1965 Screenprint on Arches double weight watercolor paper 21 1/2 x 16 3/4 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker HU79.12

George Grosz (German, 1893-1959) A Mighty One on a Little Outing Surprised by Two Poets, 1942 Oil on paper mounted to Masonite 28 x 20 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of the Estate of Arnott J. White HU93.9

Jasper Johns

Ellsworth Kelly (American, 1923-2015) Red Blue, from the portfolio X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters), 1964 21 3/4 x 17 3/4 in.

Screenprint on paper Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. Milton M. Gardner HU84.42

Lee Krasner (American, 1908-1984) Free Space (Yellow), 1975 Screenprint and collage on Arches paper, deluxe edition 19 1/2 x 26 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Alex and Carole Rosenberg HU88.13

Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917-2000) Confrontation at the Bridge, from the portfolio An American Portrait, 1975 Screenprint on paper 19 1/2 x 26 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Alex and Carole Rosenberg HU91.29

Sol LeWitt

Ad Reinhardt

(American, 1928-2007) Vertical Lines Not Touching (Black), 1971 Lithograph on paper 17 x 23 1/2 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Andrew Rosenberg HU88.19

(American, 1913-1967) Abstract Print, from the portfolio New York International, 1966 Screenprint on plastic 12 x 12 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker HU79.2

Joan Mitchell (American, 1925-1992) Metro, ca. 1965 Oil on canvas 20 x 17 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Milton Gardner HU80.15

Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991) Untitled, from the portfolio New York International, 1966 Lithograph on paper 19 x 14 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker HU79.3

Lowell Nesbitt (American, 1933-1993) Small Crater, from the portfolio Moon Shot, 1969 Lithograph on black paper 22 x 29 7/8 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Reese Palley and Marilyn Arnold Palley HU96.1.5

Larry Rivers (American, 1923-2002) Black Revue, from the portfolio Boston Massacre, 1970 Screenprint with embossing and collage on paper 19 1/8 x 27 in. sheet Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Victor Liss HU79.38.8

Ben Shahn (American, born Lithuania, 1898-1969) Mask, 1958 Gouache on paper 25 3/4 x 19 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. Milton M. Gardner HU70.102

Stanley Twardowicz (American, 1917-2008) #5, 1957 Oil enamel on canvas 42 x 34 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Lillian Dodson HU2011.15

Robert Rauschenberg

Andy Warhol

(American, 1925-2008) Moon Rose, from the series Stoned Moon, 1969 Lithograph on Arches paper 51 x 35 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Roger Tilles HU2012.50

(American, 1928-1987) Birmingham Race Riot, from the portfolio X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters), 1964 Screenprint on paper 20 x 24 in.

Hofstra University Museum of Art Gift of Dr. Milton M. Gardner HU83.47

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HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY STUART RABINOWITZ

President Andrew M. Boas and Mark L. Claster Distinguished Professor of Law

HERMAN A. BERLINER

Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART NANCY RICHNER Director

KAREN T. ALBERT

Deputy Director and Chief Curator

ELISA BRUNO

Museum Educator

ARIELLE CHRISTENSEN Museum Educator

ELIZABETH DYSART

Director of Education and Engagement

KYLIE MCGINNIS Museum Educator

KARLA ODERWALD

Senior Assistant to Director

PAMELA K. OLLENDORFF

Coordinator of Education and Public Programs

KRISTEN RUDY

Collections Manager

AMY G. SOLOMON Museum Educator

CHARMISE WOODSIDE-DESIRÉ Communications Director

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP Cassandra Oswald

GRADUATE ASSISTANTS Kerry Lattuga Courtney Magnusson Elizabeth Smith

UNDERGRADUATE ASSISTANTS

Hayley Combs, Marisa Cornog, Sky Dellasala, Jonathan Fidis, Shaina Martin, Eiryn Sheades, Allison Wolf