Guggenheim Museum
New York
8 giugno – 12 settembre 2012
In the 1950s, the Guggenheim Museum’s then-director James Johnson Sweeney championed what he called the “tastebreakers” of his day—those individuals who “break open and enlarge our artistic frontiers.” This decade witnessed the revitalization of experimental art and the advent of fresh and bold styles, a shift that was rather presciently documented and examined in 1952 by French critic Michel Tapié in his book Un art autre (Art of another kind) and an eponymous exhibition.
Taking its title from that pivotal study, this collection-based presentation seeks to consider the artistic developments of the post–World War II period and draw greater attention to the lesser-known tastebreakers in the museum’s collection alongside those long since canonized.
Drawn from the Guggenheim’s holdings, Art of Another Kind: International Abstraction and the Guggenheim, 1949–1960 celebrates this vital period in the museum’s history leading up to the inauguration of its Frank Lloyd Wright–designed building in October 1959.
In 1953, Sweeney aptly summarized the postwar prognosis: “Yesterday is not quite out of sight; tomorrow is not yet clear in view. But the atmosphere of vitality is unquestionable.”
This exhibition is organized by Tracey Bashkoff, Curator, Collections and Exhibitions, and Megan Fontanella, Assistant Curator, Collections and Provenance.
