Opening reception: Friday, May 8, 6–8 PM
This exhibition brings together paintings and works on paper created by a network of 15 artists in the years surrounding 1960, a pivotal moment of expansion in post-war American art.
Centered on the collection of Robert A. Ellison, Jr., the exhibition situates both Ellison's own work and his collection of art by his contemporaries and friends within the vibrant downtown Manhattan art scene—particularly the creative set of artists, gallerists, and collectors clustered around Tenth Street.
After World War II, New York emerged as the center of the international art world. Although Abstract Expressionism had become the dominant mode, by the 1960s many artists experienced a productive tension between abstraction and figuration, material experimentation and narrative possibility. The works presented in the exhibition reflect a community defined by restless energy and an exchange of ideas that embraced these parallel approaches to painting at a moment of artistic expansion. Together, they capture the spirit of camaraderie and experimentation that laid the groundwork for new directions in American art.
