american society of contemporary artists

NUMBER 47 HILLA REBAY: THE ACTIVIST ARTIST RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM SUMMER-2012 FRANK STELLA: INNOVATOR AND INDIVIDUALIST
By Hank Rondina The following is the continuation ( From Spring Issue) of a paper completed in August 1980 for Dr. George Corbins Modern Painting class at Lehman College.

By Judy de Zanger

illa Rebay, 1890 to 1967, was a Strasbourg artist who became the first director, curator and in large part creator of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, which opened in 1939, and later became the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Her art is less well known than her activist activities, yet recently her art has once again been revitalized in a traveling exhibition, Art of Tomorrow: Hilla Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim. Rebay studied art in Cologne, at the Academie Julian in Paris and in 1910 continued to study art in Munich. She moved to Berlin in 1913 for greater opportunities, but it wasnt until she met Jean Arp in Zurich in 1915 that she fell in love with abstraction. Arp became both her teacher and lover and encouraged her work in woodcuts and engraving. It was through Arp that she became familiar with the teachings of Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Rebay fell in love with the teachings and art of Kandinsky, Klee, Chagall, Arp and Bauer and for her as with others, non-objective art became a kind of spiritual quest. In 1917, she exhibited work at both the Galerie Dada and at the Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin. It was there she met the painter Rudolf Bauer, who became her lover and significantly influenced the direction of her art. Their relationship only lasted a short Untitled time, but Rebay continued to champion his work throughout her lifetime. Bauer operated a gallery from 1929 to 1939 in Berlin and showed work by Kandinsky and Rebay along with his
(See Rebay page 2)

nother link with Matisse and the Fauves surfaces in Stella's color vocabulary which he launches in the Benjamin Moore series and Purple Paintings. The latter series is, perhaps, the point of departure for Stella's future work with color and constructed canvases. The Purple Series displays the effects of the dual surface quality of metallic paint. These works are saturated with one color juxtaposed to another, only to be separated by the negative space of the pinstripe. Where this negative space was created by the raw state of the unpainted canvas in previous paintings, Stella now allows some pigment to "Conway1 Florescent Alkyd and Epoxy infiltrate the area. One on canvass may view this infiltration as a prophecy that the pin-stripe would almost disappear from Stella's paintings, only to give way to the interaction that takes place when one color zone is juxtaposed to another. The importance of the strength of color interaction can readily be seen in Stella's "Conway1," painted in 1966.18 Here Stella controls the color saturation to achieve a harmony between two Harmony in Red (Red Room)" separate types of pigment, namely Day-Glo colors and epoxy enamels. Matisse evoked much the same stabilization in his work "Harmony in Red (Red Room)." In this painting, structure is color, and structure is achieved "by reducing
18

Rubin, p. 117.

(See Stella page 3)

(Rebay, Continued from page 1)

own work. Guggenheim eventually bought most of Bauers collection. After little response to her shows in Berlin, Cologne and Munich, Rebay immigrated to the U.S. in 1927 and was soon able to show drawings and collages at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts. A critic wrote, she is an artist of unusual talent, a successful portrait painter and gifted with an exceptional decorative sense. When she came Veraline to New York, she met Irene Guggenheim and was able to secure a commission to paint a portrait of Solomon Guggenheim. Rebay was 38 at the time and Guggenheim was 66. It was during this time, that she became very close to Guggenheim and was able to persuade him of the importance of nonobjective art. She went on to advise him on his collection and encouraged him to support non-objective art in the cultural scene. She cared deeply for struggling artists and often persuaded Guggenheim to provide supplies or material assistance. Guggenheim bought more than 150 works by Kandinsky as well as many by Rebay and Bauer. She also encouraged purchases from Arp, Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, Picasso, Richter and Schwitters. After taking care of the collection in a variety of setDelicate Painting tings, Rebay was not only able to persuade him to build a museum to house his collection but also was instrumental in choosing the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. During World War II, Rebay and Guggenheim supported the work of non-objective artists, awarding awarded grants and materials. They also rescued Bauer from Germany, where his art was considered subversive by the Nazis. Rebay was interned as an enemy alien for a short time and was not able to travel. Despite this hardship, she maintained her commitment to a vision of having a spectacular building to house Guggenheims collection and contacted Frank Lloyd Wright in 1943 to design a building which would reflect the energy and vitality of non-objective art. She remained with the Museum until 1952, but her last years were full of dissension and tension. Bauer attacked Rebay and attempted to depose her from her position as a trustee of the Guggenheim Foundation and as curator and director. However, at his death in 1949, Guggenheim left Rebay in charge and left funds for the continuing work of the foundation and the

building of the Museum. Rebay resigned in 1952 due to ill health. Bauer died the following year and Wright died before the building was finished in 1959. Rebay did not attend the opening of the Museum. Rebay continued to do her art at her homes in Connecticut Floating and New Hampshire and in 1967, before she died, she established the Hilla von Rebay Foundation to foster, promote, and encourage the interest of the public in non-objective art. The traveling exhibition of her work testifies to her contribution to modern art as her life testifies to her contribution to the advancement of non-objective art. She was an outspoken, sometimes difficult women, who stood behind her conviction that the art she supported elevate into the cosmic beyond where there is no meaning, no intellect, no explanation, but something infinitely greaterthe wealth of spiritual intelligence and beauty.

Animato

"Painting, like music, has nothing to do with reproduction of nature, nor interpretation of intellectual meanings. Whoever is able to feel the beauty of colors and forms has understood non-objective [abstract] painting." Hilla Rebay

e need volunteers to help continue the survival of our ASCA Newsletter. We welcome art-related articles, reviews of exhibitions and your upcoming shows. Send your material to: Hank Rondina 209 Lincoln Place, Eastchester, New York 10709; Telephone (914) 793-1376; or email it to [email protected]

(Stella, Continued from page 1)

the number of tints to a minimum." In "Conway1," and other irregular polygons, a multi-pin-stripe motif would not work compositionally because the painting s would become too contrived and, therefore, boring. Stella's perception would not allow him to fall into the trap of stagnation. In addition to the juxtaposition of color, he attained, especially in the Irregular Polygons, they juxtaposition of shape. In the Protractor Series, Stella further explores color and shape within a curvilinear format. These paintings parallel those of the Fauves and of Matisse in their use of saturated color zones. In the interlaced protractor "Takht-i-Sulayman 1," Stella employs a broad range of color through the use of polymer and fluorescent polymer paint.20 He weaves reds, yellows, greens, blues, ochres and oranges into a highly Takht-i-Sulayman 1," decorative concentric pattern. The protractor-like bands activate each other as they pass into and away from six saturated color zones. These zones seem to be the color key for the painting, due to the fact that they control the value range in their respective areas. The extremely active color surface becomes more vibrant as the bands meet and turn away from one another. This activity, in turn, creates a certain rhythm which the viewer extends beyond the painting into the negative space produced by the central circle and the semi-circles at opposing ends. The painting does not have the weight or heavy quality one finds in Stella's earlier rectilinear shaped works. In contrast, the Protractor painting is lighter and more lyrical. While the Fauves and Matisse influence the decorative quality of Stella's work, Cubism played a role in the development of his rectilinear compositions and constructions. Herschel B. Chipp states that, "Cubism differs from the old schools of painting in that it aims, not as a part of imitation, but at an art of conception"21 The Cubist movement reacted against an art of vision. As stated above, the Black paintings were a reaction to the emotional and subjec"Coney Island" tive qualities of Abstract Expressionism. These paintings could fall within the scope of what Chipp describes the scientific Cubism: "it is the art of painting new structures out of elements borrowed not from the reality of site, but from the reality of insight." 22 For example, when one views Stella's "Coney Island," painted in 1958,23
19

19

one immediately senses the influence of Rothko's insight. " The picture' s suspended rectangle reflected Stella's interest in the more simple, geometrically organized compositions of the post-1949 Rothko."24 In this writer's opinion, Stella is abstracting from Rothko's insight and is holding fast to Chipp's definition. However, the black series could also satisfy certain requirements inherent in the meaning of Orphic "Astoria" Cubism, defined by Chipp as, "the art of painting new structures out of elements which have not been borrowed from the visual sphere, but have been created entirely by the artist himself and been endowed by him with fullness of reality." 25 The painting "Astoria" illustrates the Orphic vision. It is composed of horizontal bands and a carefully conceived surface quality which creates an additional plane in the composition. This additional plane is reinforced by the application of thin washes that have been allowed to run in the vertical fashion. While "Astoria" falls within the purview of what might be considered Orphic, Stella's constructed canvases of the Aluminum and Copper series and many of his latest constructions combine elements of both Synthetic Cubism and Abstract Expressionism. These works presented interaction of form, shape, space, color, surface quality and gesture. In addition, they contain "a complete geometrization of pictorial elements."26 The artist has ab"Albatross" stracted the central pictorial core of Braque and Picasso's Synthetic Cubism. He has literally freed the central elements of the modern masters from the confines of the rectangle. In 1976 construction "Albatross" 27 imparts both immediate impact of the gestural line of the artist and the synthetic gesture of the cut aluminum shapes, which allude to a French curve. Once the viewer has overcome the dynamism of this work, he may begin to realize that the painting relates to the central core of an early Cubist construction or a papier colle. The papier colle of the Cubists lead to an eventual redefining of space, shape and form. This redefinition surfaced in early Cubist relief paintings. "One of the major concerns of the Cubist was to unite the subject with its
24. 25 26

H.W. Janson, History of Art (New York, 1974), p. 515. Rubin, Chipp, p. 227. ibid. 23 Rubin p. 10
20 21 22

Ibid. Chipp, p. 228. Willy Rotzler, Constructive Concepts (New York, 1977), p. 18. 27 Siegel, p. 154.

(See Stella page 4)

(Stella, Continued from page 3)

surroundings in such a way that the whole pectoral complex could be constantly forced the related back to the first canvas, with which the artist had been originally confronted."28 In "Albatross, "there is a constant relationship and interaction of the wall with a curvilinear, trapezoidal and rectangular shapes the composition. The viewer obtains a sense of push/pull in the construction due to the horizontal movement. This horizontal movement toward and away from the viewer pierces advise him of space which is naturally created between the viewer and the painting. Although a study of Stella's work has attempted to reveal the influence of modern schools of painting and the artist's reliance on the cognitive process, his works bear the stamp of uniqueness. He combines the art and materials of the century to arrive at a style and process which belong only to him. In the 1974 Brazilian series and in the Exotic Bird series, for example, Stella "suggest the traditional rectangular picture shaped" 29 by "retaining at least one side that parallels the floor." 30 he achieves a certain recognizable projection in these series by "tilting and angling the internal, clearly readable forms."31 This innovative approach enables Stella to "literally defined relief space to structure."32 another element which has contributed greatly to Stella's individuality is variety in technique, style and use of color. From the somber, serious, highly cognitive, monochromatic Black series, to the dual surfaces of the Aluminum and Copper series, to the recent, brilliantly colored, chromatically charged reliefs, Stella has blazed the path in Modern Art and has shown remarkable endurance. The unpredictability of Stella's works has perhaps assured this resilience. One may interpret progression from the Black series to the Purple paintings as a logical step in Stella's career. However, his expansion into the realm of color could you to be expected nor predicted during his Orphic phase. Equally unpredictable, was his abandonment of the shaped canvases of the Aluminum series and his brief return to the rectilinear canvases of the Benjamin Moore series and Purple paintings, followed by the recurrence of shaped canvases in the Protractor series and the constructions of today. Stella has become a central figure in Modern Art. He has achieved this stature by constantly pushing art to its limits, in much the same way as did Czanne, Matisse and Picasso. Stella's unending Eskimo Curlew Mixed media on aluminum reevaluation of art and his nonconformity mark him both the catalyst for Contemporary Art and the stimulus for the artists of today and those who will come after him.
28 29 30

GOTTLIEB AGAIN?
By Hedy OBeil

Reprinted from Spring Issue so enjoyed reading a reprint of the article in ASCA's Newsletter (Winter 2011 2012) containing excerpts by Adolph Gottlieb from the 1955 catalog, "The New Decade at the Whitney Museum." For example, in response to the following question about his art which was asked many times, "What do these images mean?" Gottlieb replied with some irritation, "this is simply the wrong question. Visual images do not have to conform to either verbal thinking or optical facts. A better question would be, "Do these images convey an emotional truth?" This is really good, so juicy to ponder. No, nothing new for today's hyped verbiage, but said clear and simple. No question about it, "Emotional truth" is the bottom line then and now. Often I wonder when I see Chelsea gallery exhibitions, "Is there any depth of feeling here?" If not, then what is going on in these pictures on the white walls with high ceilings, complete with a receptionist or two who almost never looks up? The computer, for sure, if all more interesting than the inquiring visitor standing in front of the counter wanting to know more. Perhaps you are the visitor feeling frustrated, not getting any answers. Gottlieb continues, "I believe that art should communicate. However, I have no desire to communicate with everyone, only with those whose thoughts and feelings are related to my own." Wonderful again! Right on, Adolph. He says "my aim has always been to project images that seem vital to me, never to make paintings that conforms to the pattern of an external standard" He goes on to comment on the quality of the paint on the canvas during the heyday of Abstract Expressionism, how it was applied Was it thick and gusty, veiled over with thin washes or scraped on with a palette knife? Gottlieb states, "Paint quality is meaningless if it does not express quality of feeling. The idea that paintings merely an arrangement of lines, colors and forms is boring." He continues, "Subjective images do not have to have the rational association, but the act of painting must be rational, objective and consciously disciplined." What? I' can't believe what I am reading. Now -(See Gottlieb next page)

John Golding, "Cubism," in Tony Richardson, ed., Concepts of Modern Art (New York, 1974), p. 57. Siegel, p. 152. ibid. 31 ibid 32 . ibid.

e need volunteers to help continue the survival of our ASCA Newsletter. We welcome art-related articles, reviews of exhibitions and your upcoming shows. Send your material to: Hank Rondina 209 Lincoln Place, Eastchester, New York 10709; Telephone (914) 793-1376; or email it to [email protected]

DRESS FOR THREE: A Sculpture Installation of Three different sculptures

collectible art doll with an expressive face, colorful dress and a blue mask on her copper colored hair is standing back to back to a white concrete sculpture with the same copper hair and a golden mask hiding her faceless image. The white figure is facing a wire mesh sculpture painted in copper that seems like a shell of an invisible woman. Through this airy, semi transparent material you can see the white solid concrete sculpture. Each one of the three ladies seems to be from another era; they are conDress for Three nected together as one piece and their different dresses have the same flowing folds. There are many contrasts, yet a feeling of inner connection Dress for Three is a meeting point of different periods in the history of my life as an artist. After being a professional Puppeteer and a Story Teller (1986-1996) alongside sculpting in clay and acrylic painting, I was creating Collectible Art Dolls. Since 1997 Ive been working with wire mesh and concrete and since 2000 I have been working with bronze as well. My main sculpting medium today, is wire mesh and mixed media. Through my work I explore contrasting qualities in materials, shapes, and essence. The sculpture installation was created for a National (See Weinberg Next column)
(Gottlieb, continued from page 4)

by Lea Weinberg

(Weinberg continued) Juried Show ART AND THE HUMAN FORM, Concept, Costume & Beyond, exhibited from April 28 to May 26, 2012 at Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY Also part of this exhibition are three of my sculptures, each of them is made out of one wire mesh piece and in all of them The Dress and the Womans body are actually one. Silhouette wire mesh relief hanging on a diamond shaped clear Plexiglas. On first view we see a womans body emerging from between the folds of her dress. On a second look we find out that her hands and legs are actually part of the folds. Mesh Dress wire mesh and mixed media sculpture, a woman in a lace dress. Looking from the back you realize that the wire mesh sculpture is empty, the mesh dress is the outer skin. You can only imagine the flesh, but you definitely see the womans form. Two Sided wire mesh and mixed media sculpture, from each side you can see another front facet of a faceless woman with a wing one can also imagine her holding a child. I see a connection between a womans strength and softness and the contrasting qualities of the wire mesh. The semi transparency of the ethereal wire mesh allows the viewer to see into and beyond the flowing forms. Blue Door Gallery is having Poetry Events open to teens and adults; they are writing poems inspired by the exhibiting art. The attached poem written by E J Antonio inspired by Lea Weinbergs Silhouette. Poet: E J ANTONIO Inspired by Lea Weinbergs Silhouette woman understand how your skin ages stretches past puberty each quarter inch an accommodation for being woman feel the curves tight / sag wisdom plumping you full / beautiful Illusion questioning eyes name you zaftig ample healthy woman stand flowing time has made you more desirable that media image more comfortable that quilt your skin stretches / softly over the full moon laughing

Adolph, this is where we part. I am sorry because I believe all along we were kindred spirits. Alas! To repeat, Gottlieb said "The act of painting must be rational, objective and consciously disciplined." No, no, no! I have gambled my life as a painter on the rational and the nondisciplined. The more free, more expressive. Therefore, is freedom of spirit expressed in the painting a hodgepodge, a mish-mash, just plain junk? Then tear it up and throw it out. But better have a huge dumpster for paintings by Pollock, de Kooning, Gorky, Matta, Mitchell, etc. Since Gottlieb was not too keen on geometric painting, should we throw out Mondrian as well? Yet, he says, "I love all paintings that look the way I feel." Now that is pure and freely stated like an innocent child. Once again I am won over by Adolph and become his friend. But, for me as an artist, words like "rational," "objective," and "disciplined," make me go cold and angry. What do you think?

ASCA

T
Linda Butti Costa Rica I

he ASCA ART GALLERY presents examples of art by ASCA members selected from the Gallery Album. Please send photos of your recent work, and if space permits, they may be included in upcoming editions of the Newsletter. Remember to include your name, the title of your work, the medium, and an arrow showing which side is UP. Mail your photos to Hank Rondina, 209 Lincoln Place, Eastchester, New York 10709, or e-mail your jpegs to [email protected]

Esther Berman Resolution Mixed media collage

Judith de Zanger Opening 17 x 6 x 4

Elaine Alibrandi Outcome

Leslie Shaw Zadoian Departure Mixed media 40 x 30

Helen Levin Arch-Homage VII Acrylic

Gerda Roze In Orbit, Opus III acrylic-triptych 39H X 50W

Estelle Levy Windy Bus Stop Stoneware tile 12x15.5

Barbara Browner Schiller The Gift Bronze

Maria de Echevarria Opening To Another World Margo Mead Dreams of China

MEMBERSHIP NEWS
Elaine AlibrandiExhibited at Palazzo della Bella, Vico del Gargano, Italy, April 2012,-ALSO-Exhibited at Estense Castle Museum, Ferrara, Italy, April, 2012 ALSO- Exhibited in "Petroleum Paradox: For Better or for Worse?" Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY, May 18June 23, 2012 (see gallery) Linda ButtiExhibiting 10 pieces "For the Love of Art" at Ashawagh Hall, 780 Springs Fireplace Rd East Hampton, NY June 16th -24th. (see gallery) Basha Maryanska Exhibiting in "Summer Highlights" at New Century Artists Gallery, 530 W. 25th St. NYC. June 26th-July 28th, Reception June 30th, 3-6PM, -ALSOExhibited in "Antidote" at New Century Artists Gallery, 530 W. 25th St. NYC. June 5th-June 23rd. -ALSO- Spring Pier Art Show in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY-ALSO Exhibited with Long Reach Arts at the Mid-Hudson Heritage Center, Poughkeepsie, NY., Aprjl 2012 Neva SetlowExhibited in "Spring" the Midday Gallery in Englewood NJ, May, 2012 Rose Sigal IbsenExhibited in the Gramercy Neighborhood Associates', (GNA) Annual Exhibit at the Gregg and Marquis Galleries of The National Arts Club, Margo MeadeExhibited in "Art Waves" at the Office of Manhattan Borough President's Office, 1 Centre St., NYC., April - June, 2012( see gallery) Helen LevinThe Staten Island Museum has acquired her painting "Arch-Homage VII for their permanent collection(see gallery) Estelle LevyExhibiting in "Backlash"-Women's Basic Rights & Freedoms July 17th- Aug.11th, 2012 at the Soho 20 Gallery 547 West 27th St. NYC Reception: July 19th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (see gallery) Lea Weinberg Featured Artist in the Manhattan Arts International online gallery for six months: http:// www.manhattanarts.com/Gallery/Lea-Weinberg.htm Her award winning sculpture Inseparable (wire mesh with mixed media) -ALSO- exhibited 4 sculptures at Blue Door Gallery, Yonkers, NY in Art and the Human Form a National Juried Exhibition April 28th - May 26th, 2012. ALSO Exhibiting in Eye to i New York Society of Women Artists at Prince Street Gallery, 530W.25 St. Chelsea, NYC July 10th - 28th, 2012; Reception: Thursday, July 12th, 4 - 7pm. Leslie Shaw ZadoianAssemblage paintings Alliance Gallery,37 Main St., Narrowsburg, NY, June 15th-July 7th. (see gallery)

AT THE GUGGENHEIM June 8September 12, 2012

Art of Another Kind: International Abstraction and the Guggenheim, 19491960 n the 1950s, the Guggenheim Museum's then-director James Johnson Sweeney championed what he called the "tastebreakers" of his daythose individuals who "break open and enlarge our artistic frontiers." This decade witnessed the revitalization of experimental art and the advent of fresh and bold styles... This collectionbased presentation seeks to consider the artistic developments of the postWorld War II period and draw greater attention to the lesser-known tastebreakers in the museum's collection alongside those long since canonized. Abstract Expressionism encompasses a diverse range of postwar American painting that challenged the tradition of vertical easel painting...This gestural act, with variations practiced by William Baziotes, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, and others, was termed "Action painting" by critic Harold Rosenberg. Drawn from the Guggenheim's holdings, Art of Another Kind: International Abstraction and the Guggenheim, 19491960 celebrates this vital period in the museum's history leading up to the inauguration of its Frank Lloyd Wrightdesigned building in October 1959.

ASCA OFFICERS President Barbara Schiller President-Emeritus Harriet FeBland Vice-President Raymond Weinstein Vice-President Raymond Shanfeld Vice-President Frank Mann Treasurer Recording Secretary Imelda Cajipe Endaya Corresponding Secretary Lisa Robbins Social Secretary Olga Kitt Historian Frank Mann Board of Directors: Hank Rondina, Fred Terna ASCA NEWSLETTER Publication Director Hank Rondina CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Judy de Zanger, Hank Rondina, Lea Weinberg CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Hank Rondina COPY DEADLINE FOR THE NEXT ISSUE SEPTEMBER 15, 2012 Send your material to: Hank Rondina, 209 Lincoln Place, Eastchester, New York 10709; Telephone (914) 793-1376; or email it to [email protected]
ASCA Newsletter is published 4 times a year. Copyright 2012 by ASCA Permission is required to reprint any portion of this newsletter.

e need volunteers to help continue the survival of our ASCA Newsletter. We welcome art-related articles, reviews of exhibitions and your upcoming shows. Send your material to: Hank Rondina 209 Lincoln Place, Eastchester, New York 10709; Telephone (914) 793-1376; or email it to [email protected]