Figuration Never Died: New York Painterly Painting, 1950-1970

By about 1950, forward-looking New York painting was seen as synonymous with abstraction—especially charged, gestural Abstract Expressionism. One strong group of dissenters, however, never lost their enthusiasm for the seductive qualities of thick, malleable oil paint. They remained, for the most part, “painterly” painters. These rebellious artists include Lois Dodd, Jane Freilicher, Paul Georges, Grace Hartigan, Wolf Kahn, Alex Katz, Albert Kresch, Robert de Niro Sr., Paul Resika, and Anne Tabachnick. The exciting figurative work they made, showcased in this exhibit, constitutes a significant chapter in the history of recent American modernism. 

—Karen Wilkin, Curator