Made in the Fifties – through June 30
These sixteen works from the AMoA Permanent Collection were created in the 1950s. This decade saw the rise of Elvis Presley, the death of Buddy Holly, the healing from World War II, the beginning of the Cold War and the Vietnam War. The early Fifties were dominated by the abstract expressionists, including Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning. Later the decade saw the rise of Color Field painters and the birth of Pop Art that gave rise to artists like Andy Warhol. This exhibition includes a painting by Fairfield Porter, an artist and critic who championed the continued use of the figure in painting, as well as two paintings by Elaine de Kooning, the wife of the noted abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning. Both of these paintings were given to AMoA by an early patron, Mrs. Malcolm Shelton. There are two early Louise Nevelson sculptures - one a gift from Paul Barby and the other from the Area Arts Foundation (an organization led by Dord Fitz who left a lasting legacy on the citizens of the high plains region). Also included are some Japanese woodblock prints, a Charles Bunnell painting, and other great artworks from AMoA’s collection.
