Women of Abstract Expressionism

The groundbreaking exhibition Women of Abstract Expressionism  celebrates the often unknown female artists of this mid-twentieth-century art movement. More than 50 major paintings will be on view by artists working on the East and West Coasts during the 1940s and 50s including Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Jay DeFeo, Sonia Gechtoff, Judith Godwin, Mary Abbott, Perle Fine, Grace Hartigan, Deborah Remington, and Ethel Schwabacher. 

This will be the first presentation of works by these female artists together at one time.

Women of Abstract Expressionism will focus on the expressive freedom of direct gesture and process at the core of abstract expressionism, while revealing inward reverie and painterly expression in these works by individuals responding to particular places, memories, and life experiences. An original video made for the exhibition will include accounts about exciting moments in these artists' lives, as well as issues affecting women during this time period. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Whether you go or not, the exhibition catalog, Women of Abstract Expressionism, emphasizes the expressive freedom of direct gesture and process at the core of the movement. Lavishly illustrated with full-color plates, the book features biographies of more than forty artists, offering insight into their lives and work. Essays by noted scholars explore the techniques, concerns, and legacies of women in Abstract Expressionism, shedding light on their unique experiences. This groundbreaking book reveals the richness of the careers of these important artists and offers keen new reflections on their work and the movement as a whole.

Women of Abstract Expressionism