1950s

Context: Social, Political, Cultural, Economic

John Cage's 4'33", 1952, Discussed
Propaganda: The Dangers of Homosexuality, 1950s.
Killing of Emmett Till, August 28, 1955, TIME [OPTIONAL VIEWING ONLY --DISTURBING CONTENT WARNING]
Clement Greenberg, Modernist Painting, 1961

Color Field Painting

Art Terms
Color Field Painting


PROCESS: Staining
Mark Rothkob. Russia 1903d. New York 1970
The Case For Mark Rothko | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios
Mark Rothko, No. 5/No. 22, 1950 (dated on reverse 1949)
Corey D'Augustine, How to paint like Rothko, October, 2011
Barnett Newman
 b. New York 1905d. New York1970
Barnett Newman, Vir Heroicus Sublimis, oil on canvas, 1950-51
Helen Frankenthalerb. New York 1929
d. Connecticut 2011
Heather Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea,  Oil and charcoal on unsized, unprimed canvas, 1952
Franz Klineb. Pennsylvania 1910 d. New York 1962
Franz Kline, Painting No. 7, oil on canvas, 1952
Franz Kline | AB EX NY
Robert Motherwellb. Washington 1915d. Provincetown 1991
Elegy to the Spanish Republic no. 57, 1957-60
Elegy to the Spanish Republic, 1975-85

Geometric Abstraction

“My curiosity was aroused by the idea of giving structural form to the images in my drawings. These forms come from observing plants, the spiral shell of a snail, seeing light through insect wings, watching spiders repair their webs in the early morning, and seeing the sun through the droplets of water suspended from the tips of pine needles while watering my garden.”
Ruth Asawa

Ruth Asawab. California 1926d. San Fransico 2013
Ruth Asawa, Untitled, brass wire, iron wire, and galvanized iron wire, 1955
Ruth Asawa
Ruth AsawaUntitled (S.432, Hanging Interlocking Double Trumpets), Hanging sculpture—wire, 1958 

more on Ruth Asawa

Excerpts from Robert Snyder’s film Ruth Asawa: Of Forms and Growth © Masters & Masterworks Productions, Inc.

Ceramics Breakthrough

Peter Voulkos b. Montana 1924d. Ohio 2002
Peter Voulkos, Sevillanas, stoneware 1959
Peter Voulkos, A Brief History, "Craft in America", PBS 2014

Grupo Ruptura, Concrete + Neo-Concrete

Art Terms
Grupo Ruptura
Neo-Concrete (precursor: Concrete Art)

Grupo Ruptura, Relieve no. 30/ Relief no. 30, oil, alkyd, pine resin, wax, and acrylic on wood and metal wire, 1946
The Revolution of the Black Square, Heni Talks, April 25, 2018
Breaking the Frame, Getty Museum, October 2, 2017
Painting in an Industrial Age, Getty Museum, October 2, 2017
The Challenge of a Straight Line, Getty Museum, October 2, 2017
Helio Oiticica  b. Brazil 1937d. Brazil 1980
Hélio Oiticica, Spatial Relief (red) REL 036, Polyvinyl acetate resin on plywood, 1959
Hélio Oiticica, B11 Box Bólide 09, wood, glass and pigment, 1964
Hélio Oiticica, Tropicália, 1967

more on Helio Oticica

Judith Lauand  b. Brazil 1922d. 2022
Judith Lauand, Concrete 61, Alkyd on board, 1957
Judith Lauand
Lygia Clark b. Brazil 1920d. Brazil 1986
Lygia Clark, Planes on Modulated Surface (Study) (61), Graphite and gouache on paper, 1957
Lygia Clark, Creature Maquette, 1964
Lygia Clark, MÁSCARAS SENSORIAIS [SENSORY MASKS], 1967–68.

Gutai Art Collective, Japan

Art Term
Gutai

Kazuo Shiraga b. Japan 1924d. Japan 2008 
Kazuo Shiraga, Doro ni idomu, 1955

Social Realism in Mali

“He who has not had his photo taken with Seydou Keïta has not had his photo taken!” This is what they would say in Bamako… lensculture

Seydou Keita  b. Mali 1921d. France 2001
Seydou Keita, Untitled, gelatin silver print, 1954-60, printed 1999
Seydou Keïta, Untitled [Seated Woman with Chevron Print Dress], 1956, printed 1997
Bomako, Mali

Second Generation New York School

Art Terms
Happening

Robert Frankb. Switzerland 1924d. Canada 2019
Robert Frank, Trolley- New Orleans, 1955
Robert Frank as a Young Artist, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, June 10, 2019
Joan Mitchell b. Chicago 1925d. Paris 1992
Joan Mitchell, Hemlock , oil on canvas, 1956
Joan Mitchell's City Landscape | Art Institute Essentials Tour
Joan MitchellMooring, oil on canvas, 1971
Robert Rauschenbergb. 1925 Texasd. 2008 Florida
Robert Rauschenberg, Automobile Tire Print, 1953(Rauschenberg directed the driver: John Cage)
Robert Rauschenberg Satellite, 1955
Robert Rauschenberg, Minutiae, 1954

more on Rauschenberg and Johns

Richard Meyer, Rauschenberg, with Affection, 2018
M.H. Miller, Jasper Johns, American Legend, 2019

Jasper Johns b. Georgia 1930
Jasper Johns, White Flag, Encaustic, oil, newsprint, and charcoal on canvas, 1955
Jasper Johns, Target with Four Faces, Encaustic on newspaper and cloth over canvas, 1955
John Chamberlainb. Indiana 1927d. New York 2011
John Chamberlain, Zaar, 1959
 banner photo:  Helio Oiticica, Spatial Relief (red) REL 036, 1959