September 30, 2020

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum reopens Saturday, October 3 with two new exhibitions: Away from the Easel: Jackson Pollock’s Mural and Knotted, Torn, Scattered: Sculpture after Abstract Expressionism

Away from the Easel: Jackson Pollock’s Mural, through September 19, 2021

“Away from the Easel: Jackson Pollock’s Mural is a focused exhibition dedicated to the first monumental painting by American artist Jackson Pollock (1912–1956). Commissioned by visionary collector and dealer Peggy Guggenheim for her Manhattan home in the summer of 1943, during a pivotal moment in the evolution of Pollock’s artistic style, Mural was completed by the end of that same year. The current presentation is the first time this work has been on view in New York in more than 20 years and marks the painting’s debut at the Guggenheim Museum. Along with Mural, the exhibition features three additional works by Pollock.” — Guggenheim Museum

Jackson Pollock, Mural, 1943. Oil and casein on canvas, 242.9 x 603.9 cm. University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Gift of Peggy Guggenheim, 1959.6 © 2020 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Jackson Pollock with the unpainted canvas for Mural in his and
Lee Krasner’s Eighth Street apartment, New York, summer 1943.
Photo: Bernard Schardt, Courtesy Pollock-Krasner House and
Study Center, East Hampton, New York, Gift of Jeffrey Potter.
Jackson Pollock standing in front of Mural (1943) at the studios of Vogue magazine, ca. 1947.
Photo: Herbert Matter, courtesy of the Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries.
Jackson Pollock, The She-Wolf, 1943. Oil, gouache, and plaster on canvas, 106.4 x 170.2 cm. The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, Purchase, 1944 © 2020 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society
(ARS), New York. Digital Image ©The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, New York.

Away from the Easel: Jackson Pollock’s Mural was curated by Megan Fontanella, Curator, Modern Art and Provenance.

Knotted, Torn, Scattered: Sculpture after Abstract Expressionism, through September 19, 2021

“Knotted, Torn, Scattered: Sculpture after Abstract Expressionism is an exhibition that considers the diverse ways that artists in the 1960s and ’70s responded to the achievements of Abstract Expressionist painters to formulate unique approaches to sculptural practice. Knotted, Torn, Scattered features works from the Guggenheim collection by Lynda Benglis, Maren Hassinger, Robert Morris, Senga Nengudi, Richard Serra, and Tony Smith. These artists saw in postwar painting urgent questions about scale, material, and process.”— Guggenheim Museum

Foreground: Tony Smith, Wingbone, 1962. Plaster, cloth and wood, 26 x 25 x 118 inches (66 x 63.5 x 299.7 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased through prior gifts of Andrew Powie Fuller and Geraldine Spreckels Fuller Bequest and Richard S. Zeisler Bequest. © 2020 Estate of Tony Smith / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Richard Serra, Belts, 1966–67. Vulcanized rubber and neon, approximately 6 feet 8 inches x 16 feet 6 inches x 1 foot 8 inches (203.2 x 502.9 x 50.8 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Panza Collection, 91.3863. © 2020 Richard Serra / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Lynda Benglis, Two, 1973. Gauze, paint, plaster, mica, metal, and plastic
sequins, 31 x 12 1/8 x 16 1/2 inches (78.8 x 31.7 x 41.9 cm).
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Gift, Mrs. Andrew P. Fuller.
©Lynda Benglis / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Robert Morris, Untitled (Black Felt), ca. 1969, Felt, approximately 22 feet (670.5 cm), overall. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Panza Collection, 91.3803. © 2020 The Estate of Robert Morris / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Senga Nengudi, Performance Piece, 1978/2013. Gelatin silver prints, triptych, 40 x 31 1/2 inches (101.6 x 80 cm) and 31 1/2 x 40 inches (80 x 101.6 cm) each. A.P. 1/1, edition of 5. Photographs by Harmon Outlaw. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Photography Council, with additional funds contributed by Manuel de Santaren 2019.20. © 2020 Senga Nengudi.
Maren Hassinger, Untitled, 1972/2020. Rope. Dimensions variable. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Purchased through prior gift of Judge and Mrs. Samuel I. Rosenman, 2020 © 2020 Maren Hassinger.

Knotted, Torn, Scattered: Sculpture after Abstract Expressionism was organized by Lauren Hinkson, Associate Curator, Collections. 

Title image: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Restoration Completion. Photograph by David Heald © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

Images courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.