Richard Pousette-Dart: Beginnings
23 October 2018 – 6 January 2019, 11am – 5pm
Richard Pousette-Dart (1916–92), working in New York in the 1940s, created beautiful, layered paintings as well as experimenting with drawing, photography and sculpture.
Playing a key role in the genesis of Abstract Expressionism and the New York School, which transformed American art in the post-war years, Pousette-Dart’s contemporaries included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Willem de Kooning. Jim Ede, creator of Kettle’s Yard, first met Pousette-Dart in New York in 1940. Research exploring their transatlantic correspondence over subsequent decades was a catalyst for this first solo exhibition of the work of Pousette-Dart in the UK. The majority of works on display were borrowed from US museums and collections, and had not previously been seen in this country.
The exhibition was accompanied by a publication reflecting new research into the life and work of Richard Pousette- Dart and his significant contribution to American art in the 20th Century.
Gallery
With their bold colors, encrusted surfaces and luminous orbs, his paintings don’t so much hang on the wall as float in front of it.
Roberta Smith, New York Times, 2007
Find out more about Richard Pousette-Dart
About Richard Pousette-Dart
Pousette-Dart was born in Minnesota in 1916. The son of a painter and a poet and musician, he was largely self-taught.
Pousette-Dart worked in New York in the 1940s where he created colourful, layered paintings as well as experimenting with photography and sculpture.
A key figure of Abstract Expressionism, which transformed American art in the post- war years, Pousette-Dart’s contemporaries included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Willem de Kooning.
During the 1940s he became associated with Abstract Expressionism. He worked with sculpture, painting and photography. He later taught at a number of universities and his students included Christopher Wool (born 1955) and Ai Weiwei (born 1957).
At Kettle’s Yard…
Shop
Just Trade x Kettle's Yard
Created exclusively for Kettle’s Yard by Just Trade, this range of brass and tagua (the polished seed of the Ivory Palm) jewellery takes inspiration from Richard Pousette-Dart’s work Four brass rings and one jade ring, displayed in the House.
Just Trade works in partnership with small fair trade projects across the world, offering life changing and secure work opportunities for marginalised producers.
Richard Pousette-Dart Beginnings Publication
This publication, produced to coincide with the 2018 exhibition Richard Pousette-Dart: Beginnings reflects new research into the life and work of Richard Pousette-Dart and his significant contribution to American art in the 20th Century.
Past Exhibitions
Current Exhibitions
