The New York School

Collage, copying, and color: the New York School was about more than just gestural abstraction.

1945 - 1980

videos + essays

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Sari Dienes, <em>Star Circle</em>
Sari Dienes, Star Circle

A plaster cast of a manhole cover from the streets of Manhattan is a testament to this artist's experimental use of materials

Robert Rauschenberg, <em>Signs</em>
Robert Rauschenberg, Signs

Rauschenberg's Signs is a montage of iconic symbols of 1960s culture

In 1953, Robert Rauschenberg erased a drawing by de Kooning
In 1953, Robert Rauschenberg erased a drawing by de Kooning

When an artist erases another artist's drawing, is it still a drawing, and whose? This work challenges the art definitions and contexts of its time.

Homage to JFK: Rauschenberg’s <em>Retroactive I</em>
Homage to JFK: Rauschenberg’s Retroactive I

A portrait of a president transformed by tragedy.

Helen Frankenthaler, <em>Mountains and Sea</em>
Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea

Frankenthaler doesn’t paint the landscape per se, but offers an intuitive response to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

Frank Stella, <em>The Marriage of Reason and Squalor</em>
Frank Stella, The Marriage of Reason and Squalor

Though hand painted, this image’s regularity erased any sign of individuality or emotional investment in the work.

The Painting Techniques of Ad Reinhardt
The Painting Techniques of Ad Reinhardt

How does Reinhardt make his “black paintings” with no black at all?

Ad Reinhardt
Ad Reinhardt

Be patient! From the depths of Reinhardt’s black canvases, color and shapes emerge.

Jasper Johns, <em>White Flag</em>
Jasper Johns, White Flag

Layers of built-up wax obscure headlines and newspaper images in this painting composed of three canvases.

Ed Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz, <em>Useful Art #5: The Western Motel</em>
Ed Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz, Useful Art #5: The Western Motel

This collaboratively created work brings the darkly psychological space of Americana into the gallery.

Ad Reinhardt, <em>Abstract Painting</em>
Ad Reinhardt, Abstract Painting

Art on the edge of perception—Ad Reinhardt works with the biology of human sight and rewards close looking.

Robert Rauschenberg, <em>Bed</em>
Robert Rauschenberg, Bed

Rauschenberg includes a pillow and a quilt in this work—elements of a bed—but no one will use it for a nap.

Selected Contributors