BGuthrie Photos: DC -- American University -- Katzen Arts Center -- 2019D Early Fall Exhibit: Grace Hartigan and Helene Herzbrun: Reframing Abstract Expressionism

DC -- American University -- Katzen Arts Center -- 2019D Early Fall Exhibit: Grace Hartigan and Helene Herzbrun: Reframing Abstract Expressionism:

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Description of Pictures: Grace Hartigan and Helene Herzbrun: Reframing Abstract Expressionism
September 3-October 20, 2019
Curated by Norma Broude, American University Art History
Professor Emerita Grace Hartigan (1922-2008) and Helene Herzbrun (1922-1984) were both remarkable painters of the second Abstract-Expressionist generation who lived and worked as influential artists and teachers in the Baltimore/Washington region for many decades. Although they began their careers as gestural abstractionists in the mold of Pollock and de Kooning, both went on to reinvent and revitalize the signature styles of the Ab-Ex movement in powerful and personal ways. They were enabled to do so in large part by their self-selected, “outside-of-New York” locale, which permitted each of these very different artists to develop her own dialogue with painting, away from the shifting fashions and pressures of the commercial mainstream.

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[1] KATHAR_190907_01.JPG	[2] KATHAR_190907_06.JPG	[3] KATHAR_190907_08.JPG
[4] KATHAR_190907_15.JPG	[5] KATHAR_190907_19.JPG	[6] KATHAR_190907_26.JPG
[7] KATHAR_190907_30.JPG	[8] KATHAR_190907_39.JPG	[9] KATHAR_190907_44.JPG
[10] KATHAR_190907_47.JPG	[11] KATHAR_190907_51.JPG	[12] KATHAR_190907_54.JPG
[13] KATHAR_190907_61.JPG	[14] KATHAR_190907_67.JPG	[15] KATHAR_190907_72.JPG
[16] KATHAR_190907_77.JPG	[17] KATHAR_190907_83.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. KATHAR_190907_01.JPG: Grace Hartigan Beware of the Gifts, 1971
2. KATHAR_190907_06.JPG: Grace Hartigan and Helene Herzbrun: Reframing Abstract Expressionism Curated by Norma Broude
3. KATHAR_190907_08.JPG: Grace Hartigan (1922-2008) and Helene Herzbrun (1922-1984) were painters of the second Abstract-Expressionist generation who lived and worked for many decades. as influential artists and teachers in the Baltimore/Washington area. Both began their careers as gestural abstractionists in the mold of Pollock and de Kooning but went on to reinvent and revitalize the signature styles of the Ab-Ex movement in powerful and personal ways. They were enabled in part by their self-selected, "outside-of-New York," locale, which permitted each to develop her own dialogue with painting, away from the shifting fashions and pressures of the commercial mainstream. Their pairing in this show is framed by issues of gender as well as geography. Both were women who resisted the emerging feminist politics of their era, but their art nevertheless diverged in significant ways from the now infamously macho esthetic of their Ab-Ex predecessors. As artists, Hartigan and Herzbrun remained centered within themselves and shared an unwavering resistance to the pressure to conform. Each possessed an ability to transform personal visual experiences and predilections-urban spaces and popular culture for Hartigan; the spatial experience of the landscape for Herzbrun -- into powerful pictorial ideas. Both constantly experimented and evolved. Hartigan's unique blend of metamorphic imagery and abstraction, developed during five decades of work in Baltimore, increasingly privileged the role of drawing in her practice as a painter. Herzbrun, on the other hand, categorically rejected figuration and embraced pure abstraction. Focusing on color sensation, she transformed the gestural mark-making of her early work into an expressive dialogue between techniques of brushing and staining. This show brings together a group of rarely seen works by Hartigan and Herzbrun, including examples from the Ab-Ex decade of the 1950s. Its primary focus, however, is the period when both artists were active in the Washington/Baltimore region: a period roughly framed by 1960, the year when Hartigan moved from New York to Baltimore, and 1984, the year of Herzbrun's death. This exhibition was made possible through the generosity of Elisabeth French.
4. KATHAR_190907_15.JPG: Helene Herzbrun Like Thunder, c 1965
5. KATHAR_190907_19.JPG: Grace Hartigan Greta, 1981
6. KATHAR_190907_26.JPG: Grace Hartigan Joan of Arc, 1973
7. KATHAR_190907_30.JPG: Grace Hartigan Frank O'Hara, 1926-1966, 1966
8. KATHAR_190907_39.JPG: Grace Hartigan Reistertown Mall, 1965
9. KATHAR_190907_44.JPG: Grace Hartigan (1922-2008) and Helene Herzbrun (1922-1984) were painters of the second Abstract-Expressionist generation who lived and worked for many decades as influential artists and teachers in the Baltimore/Washington area. Both began their careers as gestural abstractionists in the mold of Pollock and de Kooning but went on to reinvent and revitalize the signature styles of the Ab-Ex movement in powerful and personal ways. They were enabled in part by their self-selected, "outside-of-New York," locale, which permitted each to develop her own dialogue with painting, away from the shifting fashions and pressures of the commercial mainstream. Their pairing in this show is framed by issues of gender as well as geography. Both were women who resisted the emerging feminist politics of their era, but their art nevertheless diverged in significant ways from the now infamously macho esthetic of their Ab-Ex predecessors. As artists, Hartigan and Herzbrun remained centered within themselves and shared an unwavering resistance to the pressure to conform. Each possessed an ability to transform personal visual experiences and predilections-urban spaces and popular culture for Hartigan; the spatial experience of the landscape for Herzbrun-into powerful pictorial ideas. Both constantly experimented and evolved. Hartigan's unique blend of metamorphic imagery and abstraction, developed during five decades of work in Baltimore, increasingly privileged the role of drawing in her practice as a painter. Herzbrun, on the other hand, categorically rejected figuration and embraced pure abstraction. Focusing on color sensation, she transformed the gestural mark-making of her early work into an expressive dialogue between techniques of brushing and staining. This show brings together a group of rarely seen works by Hartigan and Herzbrun, including examples from the Ab-Ex decade of the 1950s. Its primary focus, however, is the period when both artists were active in the Washington/Baltimore region: a period roughly framed by 1960, the year when Hartigan moved from New York to Baltimore, and 1984, the year of Herzbrun's death. This exhibition was made possible through the generosity of Elisabeth French. From top: Helene Herzbrun in her studio, ca. 1970. Unidentified photographer. Grace Hartigan in her studio in 1993 with her painting Junk Shop with Egyptian Violet. Photograph by Marty Katz/washingtonphotographer.com.
10. KATHAR_190907_47.JPG: Helene Herzbrun Storm Altered (Colorado Series), 1965
11. KATHAR_190907_51.JPG: Grace Hartigan Untitled, n.d.
12. KATHAR_190907_54.JPG: Helene Herzbrun Landscape (Rising from Purple), c 1958-1960
13. KATHAR_190907_61.JPG: Grace Hartigan Snow Angel, 1960
14. KATHAR_190907_67.JPG: Helen Herzbrun Untitled (Blue Landscape), c 1960
15. KATHAR_190907_72.JPG: Grace Hartigan Summer Street, 1956
16. KATHAR_190907_77.JPG: Grace Hartigan Pallas Athena -- Earth, 1961
17. KATHAR_190907_83.JPG: Grace Hartigan Marilyn, 1962
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