On March 1, the opening reception for a very interesting exhibition entitled Americans in Paris was held in the new premises of the Gray Art Museum. This exhibition, which takes place from March 2 to July 20, is dedicated to artists from the United States who worked at least one year in France during the post-Second World War period, between 1946 and 1962.
Many of them were war veterans who were beneficiaries of the GI Bill of Rights, a 1944 law, which allowed them and their spouses to cover tuition and living expenses during their stay in Paris.
The exhibition brings together 130 works, paintings, photographs, sculptures, films, textiles and writings from around 70 different artists.
Americans in Paris, from figurative to abstract art
25 artists are particularly highlighted, some already well known in the New York art scene of the time and others still awaiting recognition.
A part of the exhibition entitled “The Salon” brings together works by American or French artists that Americans could also have seen in the galleries or annual Parisian exhibitions of the time.
While the art scene of these post-war years was dominated by Abstract Expressionism, American artists who came to Paris used more diverse approaches combining both figurative and abstract art.
Paris more attractive and tolerant than New York during the post-war period
During the 1950s, American artists in Paris felt like they were in a society that was less racist than in the United States and less subject to the power structures of the New York artistic community.
This craze ended when tensions arose in the early 1960s in French society because of the Algerian War, and the nationalist behavior of French art critics. From then on, a certain number of New York artists returned to the Big Apple, which had become more attractive again, notably through the rise of galleries run by artists.
Among the works exhibited at the Gray Art Museum are a magnificent print by William Klein from 1952 entitled “Moving Diamonds on Yellow”, or paintings by Jack Youngerman from 1951 “Panel” and oils by Ralph Coburn produced in 1950 including “View of Toulon”.
Aerial metal structures can also be discovered in this exhibition.
Note that the Gray Art Museum particularly specializes in post-World War II American art, regularly exhibiting works by Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Louise Nevelson, Alex Katz, Kenneth Noland and Ad Reinhardt.
2024-03-04 21:35:32
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