A Return to Form; Long Live the Figure

Raphael Soyer, Girl in Brown Jacket

If you've had it with conceptual art and crave to see good ol' oil on canvas or smudged charcoal on paper, I highly recommend "The League Then and Now" exhibition at The Art Students League and 17 New York galleries. Celebrating the League's 130th anniversary, the exhibits feature the work of students and teachers dating back to the late 1800s, right up to now. Past students include Georgia O'Keefe, Red Grooms, Jackson Pollack, and Mark Rothko. The Pollack and Rothko pieces at Joan T. Washburn gallery were very interesting. After seeing the work of such masters of technique and craftsmanship, I felt reinvigorated, and I think you will too.



Eugene Speicher, painting of Georgia O'Keefe


Frank Vincent Dumond, 1886


Jackson Pollock, Figure Kneeling before Arch with Skulls

Reminds me of El Greco. To view more of Pollack's paintings from this period, click here.


Mark Rothko, Mother and Child

So very different from what he's known for. To view more of Rothko's paintings from this period, click here.