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Sunday, December 11, 2022

American Lyrical Abstraction developed as an art movement in the 1960s and 70s led by a group of artists including Dan Christensen, Larry Poons, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Natkin, and Sam Francis. These artists sought to expand the idea of abstract painting and to reassert the importance of the formal elements of line and color. Their work was created, in part, in reaction to the streamlined aesthetics, coolness, and political implications of Minimalist and Conceptual Art. Dubbed “lyrical abstractionists,” these artists made work characterized by loose gestural brushstrokes, acrylic staining, an emphasis on rich color, monumental scale, occasional imagery, and a return to a physical and direct sensory experience of painting. This focus exhibition features work by lyrical abstract artists in the Museum’s permanent collection including Poons, Natkin, Francis, Marlene Mueller, and Jules Olitski, among others.