Gesture: Abstract Expressionists

Gesture:  Abstract Expressionists

Presenter: Sarah Eckhardt, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 

From brushstrokes to drips and palette knives to spray cans, this lecture explores the role of the artist’s mark in several iconic paintings from the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's 20th- and 21st-century collection. While abstract expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, whose bold, energetic, and seemingly messy applications of paint are best known, a wider range of artists experimented with similar techniques. From European avant-garde artists experimenting with brutal brushstrokes of German expressionism and the loose, automatist lines of French surrealism to African American artist Norman Lewis’ explorations of black and gray tones, the marks of all these artists register an array of varied responses that run the gamut from playful to political.

Now in its 9^th season, Centuries of Art @ Your Library is a lecture series on art  that is a partnership between This Century Gallery, Williamsburg Regional Library and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA).  These programs have been organized by the Office of Statewide Partnerships of the VMFA, Richmond, and are supported by the Paul Mellon Endowment.

The lectures are free of charge.