MoMA Exhibits Postwar Drawings from Its Superb Collection

NEW YORK CITY

:As part of a continuing celebration of its 75th anniversary and recent reopening, The Museum of Modern Art presents the second segment of a yearlong three part chronological exhibition of the most extensive display ever of drawings from its collection. "Drawing from the Modern, 1945-1975," presented in The Paul J. Sachs Drawings Galleries on the third floor, examines postwar drawing through a full range of styles and subjects.

The artists featured in the exhibition introduced new subject matter and experimented with a host of new techniques: from the defiance of conventional notions of representation an composition in works by Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning to the appropriation of popular culture in the art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein; from the Conceptualism and Mini-malism of Agnes Martin and Eva Hesse to the geometric abstraction practiced by Latin American artists like Helio Oiticica and Gego.

In addition, many recent acquisitions will be on view by such artists as Mel Bochner, Lygia Clark, Philip Guston, Jasper Johns, Lee Lozano and Brice Marden.

"Drawing from the Modern, 1945-1975," on view through August 29, is organized by Gary Garrels, The Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings, and Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture.

The third installment, "Drawing from the Modern, 1975-2005," will be on view September 13-January 16.

"Visual art in the period following World War II, from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s, witnessed enormous transformations. Drawing provides an astonishingly powerful and vigorous device for reexamining the art of this period. In light of the radical departures and shifts of art during this time, drawing played a crucial role in the work of almost all of the significant artists," states Mr Garrels.

MoMA has one of the world's most comprehensive single collections of modern drawings, with more than 7,000 works. It includes works in such traditional mediums as pencil, ink, charcoal and watercolor as well as collage, assemblage and works in mixed mediums.

The three volumes of Drawing from the Modern will be the most comprehensive catalog of MoMA's drawings collection. In addition to highlighting masterworks of the collection, the books will showcase new formal strategies - including collage, abstraction, chance, process, seriality and the integration of text and image - and new subject matter, including the urban experience, the body and identity. Volume 2 spans the period from 1945 to 1975 and includes work by Jackson Pollock, Joseph Beuys, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Sigmar Polke, Eva Hesse and many others. Volume 1, available now, covers 1880 to 1945, and Volume 3, available in the fall, from 1975 to present day. Drawing from the Modern, 1945-1975 by Gary Garrels is $40, hardcover.

The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, is open Wednesday through Monday, 10:30 am to 5:30 pm; Friday, 10:30 am to 8 pm. For information, 212-708-9400.