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American Modernism

Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: John B. Storrs (1886-1956 US)

Thursday, June 25, 2026 | Karl Cole

John Bradley Walker Storrs is an example of an American artist who, after exposed to European modernism at the dawn of World War I, he never looked back to realism. He ultimately developed a Cubist ab ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Jean Follett (1917-1991 US)

Friday, June 5, 2026 | Karl Cole

Like the Abstract Expressionists, many other American artists were inspired by European modernist movements that occurred before World War II. Jean Follett was an early abstractionist who was influenc ...

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Curator's Corner

National Hamburger Day: Art by Claes Oldenburg (1929-2022 US, born Sweden)

Thursday, May 28, 2026 | Karl Cole

National Hamburger day – origin unknown – has been celebrated since 2010 as a tribute to the beginning of summer. Who better to make fine art out of a hamburger than Pop artist Claes Olden ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Frank Stella (1936-2024 US)

Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | Karl Cole

The paintings, sculptures and installations of Frank Stella have defied a single stylistic designation throughout his career. He among the many artists who established their mature artistic vision in ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Robert Kobayashi (1925-2015 US)

Tuesday, May 5, 2026 | Karl Cole

There were many Japanese-American artists who served in the US military during World War II (1939-1945) and afterwards became leaders in American modernism. Robert Kobayashi was a unique modernist who ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Willem de Kooning (1904-1997 US, born Netherlands)

Friday, April 24, 2026 | Karl Cole

Abstract Expressionism, which developed in the 1940s primarily in New York, was the first original American modernism art movement. Willem de Kooning was one of the leading artists of this group, also ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Richard Diebenkorn / Happy Earth Day

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 | Karl Cole

What better way to dual celebrate Earth Day/Birthday than a landscape! The first original American modernist art movement, called Abstract Expressionism, flourished between the late 1940s into the 196 ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Jules Olitski

Friday, March 27, 2026 | Karl Cole

Jules Olitski was a Ukrainian-born American artist who was instrumental in developing the Color Field painting style. Color Field, which involved staining canvas rather than using brushes, was the ant ...

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Curator's Corner

March is Women's History Month

Monday, March 9, 2026 | Karl Cole

There was a period in the early 1900s, before World War I (1914-1918) when many American artists looked to European painting for inspiration and modern modes of expression, including abstraction. Even ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Esteban Vicente (1903-2001 US, born Spain)

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 | Karl Cole

Esteban Vicente was part of the vibrant Abstract Expressionism scene in American art after World War II (1939-1945). His work reflects the type of biomorphic abstraction influenced by Surrealism seen ...

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Curator's Corner

National Food Day: Claes Oldenburg

Friday, October 24, 2025 | Karl Cole

One artist who undoubtedly symbolizes the Pop Art movement’s glorification of American culture by far the most in his subjects of everyday foods was Claes Oldenburg. His first installation/perfo ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Richard Hunt

Friday, September 12, 2025 | Karl Cole

Born in Chicago, Richard Hunt became what is considered to have been the foremost abstract African American sculptor of the 20th century. ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Sarai Sherman

Tuesday, September 2, 2025 | Karl Cole

Painter, interior designer, and ceramic artist Sarai Sherman was a Jewish American whose paintings were a combination of reality and reminiscences, producing a unique form of abstraction. ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Jess (Collins)

Wednesday, August 6, 2025 | Karl Cole

Jess (Collins) is probably best known for his incredibly complex collages. He was a painter who initially worked as a chemist. He started doing collages in the early 1950s after seeing the works o ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Ludwig Sander

Friday, July 18, 2025 | Karl Cole

Ludwig Sander was a member of the New York School that established the United States as a center for modernist experiment in art. He was an early practitioner of Color Field painting which he stuck wi ...

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Curator's Corner

Artist Birthday: Jimmy Ernst

Friday, June 20, 2025 | Karl Cole

Jimmy Ernst was the son of pioneering German Surrealist artist Max Ernst. In the late 1940s he emerged as a major force in American Abstract Expressionism. ...

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