I got a press release from the Library of Congress that tells of a recent acquisition of a collection Abstract Expressionism prints.
I had to stop for a minute and think about what exactly Abstract Expressionism is. I realized I hadn't a clue! So, I looked up the definition online and then I went to see what we had in our collection.
In our reference section, we have The American Century: Art and Culture 1950-2000 by Lisa Phillips [R 709 PHI], which discusses Abstract Expressionism and puts it into historical and cultural context. It is beautifully illustrated with photos and color plates. Sidebars throughout the book, written by subject experts, explain movements in the other arts, for example, there is one called, "The Sounds of Silence: Serious Music Survives."
In our circulating collection we have Art of the 20th Century, volumes 1 and 2 [709 ART]. This large format work has a section titled, "The Paris-New York Shift," which covers Abstract Expressionism.
Plan a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, to view the work of Abstract Expressionists up close. The MFA site has a fine search engine where you can plug in the name of an artist to find what they have in their collection of more than 300,000 of works of art. Look for these Abstract Expressionist artists: Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Adja Yunkes. The search enables you to see if an item is currently on display.
Remember, the library has a museum pass for the MFA, which is generously provided for us by F.L.O.W. (our Friends group).
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