Impressionism

Flora Crockett is emerging from obscurity to gain recognition as an original, important, and delightful abstract painter. By John Dorfman As recently as 2017, Flora Crockett was being called a “forgotten painter.” The phrase appeared in Roberta Smith’s New York Times review of an exhibition of the artist’s work at Meredith Ward Fine Art in…

They never met in life, but Willem de Kooning and Chaïm Soutine have an artistic kinship that transcends time and place. By John Dorfman In 1977, when asked to discuss his influences, Willem de Kooning pointed to one above all—Chaïm Soutine, the Russian-born Parisian painter who died in miserable circumstances in 1943. In some ways,…

Artworks once owned by the wealthy Morozov brothers of Moscow, pioneering collectors of modernism in the early 20th century, are being seen outside Russia for the first time. By Sarah E. Fensom The famed Moscovite brothers Mikhaïl and Ivan Abramovich Morozov brought an astounding amount of masterpieces from Western Europe to Russia, creating collections of…

Clyfford Still, PH-972, 1959, oil on canvas, 112 x 155 in. Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO. © City and County of Denver / ARS, New York Clyfford Still managed to become one of the most celebrated Abstract Expressionist painters and one of postwar art’s most elusive figures.   By Sarah E. Fensom   Clyfford Still…

Z. Vanessa Helder, Pettit Carriage House, 1942, watercolor on paper, 15 3⁄8 x 20 1⁄4 in.; Collection of John and Patti O’Keefe Magic realism, a relatively neglected school of American painting, probed the disquieting truths beneath the surface of modern life. By John Dorfman “For Modernism, we may take it that abstraction is the law…

For American artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Spanish art and culture held an irresistible allure. By John Dorfman Spain once exerted a magnetic force on the American imagination. After losing most of its New World colonies in the 1820s, Spain entered a long period of political and economic decline during which it…

William S. Schwartz synthesized his own unique brand of modernism, encompassing the avant-garde techniques of Europe and the boundless possibilities of America By John Dorfman   While New York is without doubt the center of the American art world, Chicago has long had a lively art scene all its own, often cheerfully indifferent to the…

Working with amazingly intricate techniques, contemporary Japanese artists conjure the essences of nature in gold, silver, and a variety of alloys. By John Dorfman   In Japan, it is not only a precious object that can be classified as a national treasure, but also a human being. The government has established a category, “Living National…

Inspired by spiritual ideas, Piet Mondrian created a radical art that aimed to transform the world. By Sarah E. Fensom   Piet Mondrian joined the Dutch arm of the Theosophical Society in 1909. His interest in a newly emerging spirituality had begun earlier, however. The artist, who was raised as a Calvinist, read Theosophical literature…