George Morrison (1919–2000) was one of the most significant yet often underrecognized figures in twentieth-century American art. A member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe), Morrison became known for his richly textured abstract paintings and later for his celebrated wood collages inspired by the rugged shoreline of Lake Superior. After studying at the Art Students League in New York, he became part of the city’s vibrant postwar art scene, exhibiting alongside many of the leading Abstract Expressionists. While his Indigenous heritage informed his deep appreciation for the natural world, Morrison resisted being defined solely as a Native American artist, preferring to be recognized first and foremost for the strength and originality of his modernist vision. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: George Morrison, The Antagonist→
The La Sirène or “Lobster” Evening Dress by Charles James, designed in 1956, is a masterful example of his sculptural approach to couture. This evening gown was part of James‘ later work, showcasing his deep understanding of structure, form, and fabric manipulation. The dress was named La Sirène (French for The Mermaid) because of its dramatic, fishtail silhouette, which flares at the bottom, echoing the movement of a mermaid’s tail. Continue reading Eye On Design: Charles James’ La Sirène Gown→
Alexander Archipenko (1887 – 1964) first conceived the form of The Ray (Vase Woman III, The Ray), an elongated, abstract figure of a woman, around 1918. He explored the figure numerous times in several variations and media, sometimes calling it Vase or Vase Woman and other times Ray, recognizing the flexibility of perception, as well as the relationship between animate and inanimate forms.
A tour de force of Willem de Kooning’s gestural style, Easter Monday (1955-56) bristles with energy. Angled forms and lines collide, overlap and penetrate one another, while transferred newsprint, particularly visible at the bottom and top right, enforces a tenuous, grid-like structure. The work appears to be in simultaneous processes of creation and destruction, a perpetual state of both realization and erasure that finds some analogy in the continuous growth and decay of nature. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Willem de Kooning, Easter Monday→
The catalyst for Andy Warhol’s transformation from commercial to fine artist was a 1961 display window that he created for the Bonwit Teller Department Store at Fifth Avenue and 56th Street. The window displayed five of Warhol’s newest paintings as a backdrop to mannequins wearing Bonwit’s fashions. Representing Warhol’s first foray into what would become Pop Art, these paintings depicted commercial imagery from ads and comics, overlaid with gestural drips and blotches of Abstract Expressionism. The Bonwit window introduced Warhol’s characteristic practice of elevating pop culture into fine art that he continued to explore for the rest of his career.
Photographed as part of the Gay Gotham Exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York.
