Abstraction at Mid-Century
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY GALLERY
In the wake of World War II, abstraction became a dominant aesthetic and, for many, a visual language capable of addressing the atomic age. Abstract Expressionism, a term most often used to identify a post-war art movement characterized primarily by its loose brushwork and gestural strokes, was in fact, quite varied. This gallery presents a few of the artists who developed different approaches and techniques.
Works from the 1940s and into the 1950s by Hans Hofmann, Romare Bearden, and Dorothy Dehner recall Cubist-inspired geometric abstraction of the early twentieth century. In the mid-1950s, artists such as Byron Browne, Manuel Neri, and John Rhoden combined abstraction with floral and figurative imagery. By the end of the decade, younger artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Al Held’s experimentation with mark-making led to the development of the Pop Art and Minimalist movements of the 1960s.
Abstraction at Mid-Century is organized by Marshall N. Price, Chief Curator and Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.
This exhibition is made possible by The Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family Fund for Exhibitions.
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John Rhoden, Dedicated Public Servant, 1958. Bronze and glass on marble base, 40 1/4 × 11 1/4 × 5 1/2 inches (102.24 × 28.58 × 13.97 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift from The John Walter Rhoden and Richanda Phillips Rhoden Collection at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2024.16.3. © Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Byron Browne, Meteorites, 1951. Oil on canvas, 38 × 30 inches (96.52 × 76.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of the Stephen B. Browne Testamentary Trust, 2024.17.6. © The Stephen B. Browne Testamentary Trust. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Roy Lichtenstein, Untitled, c. 1959. Oil on canvas, 68 3/4 × 47 3/4 inches (174.63 × 121.29 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC. Gift of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation in Celebration of the Centennial of Roy Lichtenstein, 2023.4.2. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Image courtesy of the Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Photo by: Adam Reich.
