Richard Dorment wrote the following opening to his New York Review of Books description of the Royal Academy exhibition: "With 36 artists represented by 150 paintings, sculptures and photographs on loan from public and private collections from around the world the Royal Academy's stupendous survey of Abstract Expressionism is the first on this scale in Britain for almost 6 decades. It succeeds in almost every way in shaping the all but indefinable phenomenon of Abstract Expressionism".
While there is some useful and informative information at the beginning of this catalog, I imagine most people would purchase the book for the illustrations featured in the RA exhibition (travelling later to the Guggenheim Bilbao). The good news is that this large volume, printed in Italy, has generously sized reproductions of the exhibits in accurate color. It must be noted that many of the paintings are very large and a book sized reproduction could not replicate the experience of viewing the original art work.
The main artists represented in the exhibition are the great exponents of Abstract Expressionism; Rothko, Pollock, Newman, David Smith (sculpture), Gorky, Still and de Kooning. As an Australian I note that Pollock's Blue Poles has been loaned to the exhibition and the painting also is the design for the catalog's cover. When purchased by the Australian government in 1973 for A$1.3 million there were huge protests claiming that the painting was junk and the high price was a waste of money. It is estimated that Blue Poles could presently fetch 100 times more than the 1973 purchase price!
If this fascinating and important era of art interests you this book should be an obligatory purchase.
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