Description

Lecture:Jackson Pollockand the Rise of Abstract Expressionismw/William PerthesThursday, November 19, 20266:00pm - 7:30pm


In the 1950s a group of young American artists burst onto the international art scene with a bold, fresh, and improvisational visual form quickly labeled Abstract Expressionism. At the forefront of this group was Jackson Pollock whose “drip” paintings came to personify the movement. Join us for a close look at Abstract Expressionism and the central role that Pollock played in its development. We’ll look at Pollock’s early work, his breakthrough drip paintings, and the work of his last years. We’ll also consider Pollock in relationship to the work of his contemporaries such as Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Robert Motherwell. Martha Holmes, Jackson Pollock Dropping Paint to Canvas, Springs, New York, 1949, The LIFE Picture Collection
Bill Perthes is an educator, author, and curator whose background is in philosophy and art history. He was recently appointed the inaugural Curator of Community Vitality at the Barnes Foundation where he has taught for more than 25 years. Bill's work focuses on how experiences with works of art, both short and long term, can impact and inform fields as varied as business, medicine, law enforcement, and restorative justice. He is the author of “The Barnes Method” included in the publication The Barnes: Then and Now. Bill is the curator of Faces of Resilience, a traveling exhibition of original works of art created by currently and formerly incarcerated artists at the State Correctional Institution Phoenix. Bill’s scholarship has focused on American Modernism with a special concentration on the Abstract Expressionist painter Robert Motherwell. He is the former Director of Education for the Violette de Mazia Foundation.

Instructor

William Perthes