The mid-twentieth century was a watershed moment in the history of art where artists began to challenge traditional understandings and practices of art-making. This was done in part through a negation of pictorial space and narrative in favor of an emphasis on artistic process, experimentation, and the development of a universal visual language. In addition to works of pure abstraction by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Tadashi Sato, this exhibition also includes works by artists who blurred the boundaries of abstraction and representation such as Grace Hartigan, Joan Brown, and Richard Diebenkorn.
The majority of the twentieth-century American and European modern art collection at UAMA was donated over the span of twenty years by Edward Gallagher, Jr. A Baltimore native, he had a love for Arizona from his time growing up and vacationing at dude ranches with his family. He established the collection to honor the memory of his son and only child, “little Eddy.”
Images: Joan Brown, Things in Landscape #1, 1959, Oil on canvas; Grace Hartigan, Black Still Life, 1953, Oil on canvas
