Evening Presentation by Dr. DAVID ANFAM
Registration: 6:30pm
Presentation: 6:45pm
Close: 8:00pm

Conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation in Mandarin

Abstract Expressionism is a non-representational way of making art, concerning less to reveal the subject but the manifestation of the painting act. Painting gestures or the capacity of the medium — colors, brushwork, texture, scale and space, are glorified as a means to communicate immediacy and raw emotions to the beholder. This revolutionary approach to painting is well exemplified by the leading titans: Pollock, Rothko and Still. Since the moment in 1947 when Jackson Pollock “broke the ice” — as Willem de Kooning put it — his revelatory achievement has always been central to the evolving story of modern art. Likewise, Mark Rothko’s haunting imageless icons — which he attained in 1950 and ceaselessly explored for the next two decades — have exerted an extraordinary spell over both experts and the general public alike. In contrast, Clyfford Still’s greatness is only now becoming fully known.

In this seminar, David Anfam examines the powerful common themes and stark differences that at once link and distinguish these three great artists. Their diverse explorations of what abstract painting can attain continues to inspire contemporary art.

Dr. David Anfam (b. 1955) has dedicated to the studies of Abstract Expressionism, resulting in more than 70 books and catalogue essays over the past thirty years, including studies of Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Anish Kapoor and Mark Rothko. His most acclaimed publication Mark Rothko: The Works on Canvas – A Catalogue Raisonné (Yale University Press, 1998), which received the 2000 Mitchell Prize for the History of Art. Most recently, Anfam’s curated exhibition Abstract Expressionism — the largest scale of its kind ever held in Europe — opened at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Co-presenter