Hassel Smith
Subtitle: paintings 1937-1997
By: edited by Petra Giloy-Hirtz, Paul J. Karlstrom, Susan Landauer
Contributors: Morgan, Robert C., 1943-; Selz, Peter, 1919-; Temko, Allan
Publisher: Prestel
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Munich; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 231
ISBN-13: 9783791351070
Subjects: Criticism and interpretation; Abstract Painting
Description: "This book on the Abstract Expressionist painter Hassel Smith illustrates all periods of the artist's many-faceted career. Considered by critics as a "West Coast underground legend," Hassel Smith was an influential member of the experimental school of artists that emerged from post-World War II California. Together with Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, and Richard Diebenkorn, Smith made his name at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) and from 1950 until the mid-1960s with successful exhibitions in Europe and on both coasts of the US. While his breakthrough paintings are characterized by their wildly vibrant brushstrokes and explosions of color, Smith was equally adept in a more restrained style, producing in later years the magisterial sequence of "measured" abstractions. As an initial burst of fame subsided, Smith continued to paint with unwavering energy. The result is a robust and dynamic body of work that reflects Smith's persistent curiosity and the breadth of his inquiry into the possibilities of painting. Long awaited by followers of the innovative art of the American Far West, this volume presents a full appreciation of Smith's achievement"--Publisher's description.
Notes: With contributions by Petra Giloy-Hirtz, Robert C. Morgan, Peter Selz, and Allan Temko.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 226-227).
Table of contents: title: An itinerant life in modern art / Paul J. Karlstrom; title: Hassel Smith and the politics of style / Susan Landauer; title: The figurative paintings of Hassel Smith / Peter Selz; title: Hassel Smith and the structure of abstract painting / Robert C. Morgan; title: Hassel Smith : paintings, 1954-1975 / Allan Temko; title: "More and more cosmic funk" : Hassel Smith's late paintings / Petra Giloy-Hirtz.