From Library Journal
Time has served to make the laconic visual language of Barnett Newman (1905-70) ever more enigmatic. While the size of his paintings grants them powerful presence, and they fairly throb with voluble potential, Newman's specific messages remain decidedly unspoken. Temkin, curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Richard Shiff (C‚zanne and the End of Impressionism) do much to give these works a distinct historical voice. They also illuminate Newman himself, the man who, though a forceful figure in the art world, was often eclipsed by his contemporaries Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still. Intended to accompany the first retrospective exhibition of Newman's work since the 1970s (at the Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art until this July), the catalog provides a rich reconstruction of Newman's life, placing special focus on his early curatorial synergy with Betty Parsons, his related efforts to promote the artists we now recognize as the New York School, and the strong principles that informed the appearance of his paintings and sculptures. A detailed, picture-rich chronology follows the catalog. Recommended for all art collections. Savannah Schroll, Smithsonian Institution Libs., Washington, DC
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
Newman (1905-70), the son of Jewish Polish immigrants, worked slowly and contemplatively, unlike his frenzied friend, Jackson Pollock. He made a modest number of paintings and had few major exhibitions, yet by virtue of his "shockingly minimal" paintings and eloquently radical theories about art (he was as loquacious as his paintings were quiet), was a phenomenally influential creative force. Curator Temkin, whose last book resurrected the painter Alice Neel, oversaw the first-ever posthumous retrospective of Newman's work, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and put together this marvelously evocative catalog in which stunning reproductions are matched with biographical and critical essays and other valuable documentation. Temkin and her contributors illuminate the thought and emotion that went into Newman's deceptively simple paintings, large fields of deep, textured color dramatically divided by vertical lines, or "zips." Newman's restrained yet vibrant paintings are just the sort of modern art people love to mock--in fact, he drolly collected cartoons poking fun at abstract painting--but his work, essential and transcendent, embodies a genuine quest for liberty and spiritual insight. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
