"Ninth Street Women Meet The Irascibles" by Red Grooms

"Jazzy Geometry (Lee Krasner)" (2023)

It seems ages ago, but my Icelandic adventure was preceded by a long week-end in New York. It's always great to catch up with friends and, of course, to see some art. Wendi and I decided to check out some of the galleries in Chelsea, and Red Grooms' "Ninth Street Women Meet The Irascibles" at Marlborough was on her list. What a huge wow the exhibit was. Grooms' vivid paintings of these artists were knockouts all around. Grooms was in the gallery to boot (although I only had the nerve to say hello and how much I enjoyed his work). 

Grooms was inspired to create the works in the exhibit by Mary Gabriel's book "Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement that Changed Modern Art." The length of the title prepares readers for the length of the book. At 944 pages, it's not what anyone would call a light read, which is one reason the tome has not graced my bedside table. (I also generally stick to fiction.) And so a bit of research was in order so I could better appreciate the exhibit.

"Joan Mitchell Painting" (2023)

The title of Gabriel's book came from the Ninth Street Show of 1951, a somewhat radical exhibit that featured the work of artists who would become known as Abstract Expressionists. The exhibit has been compared to the Salon des Refuses, the 1863 show that featured the work of artists like Manet and Cezanne whose paintings had been rejected by the judges of the official Paris Salon. Not bad company for the latter day artists to keep. 

Eleven women were included among the 72 artists who participated in the Ninth Street Show. When writing about these women in the 1970s, art critic Thomas Hess dubbed them the "sparkling Amazons." An exhibit in 2020 of these artists' work at the Katonah Museum of Art ironically adopted this label for the title of the show. The press release noted that "These women would neither have viewed themselves as 'Amazons' nor as feminists; they simply worked and lived as artists, pursuing their professions with the same dedication as their male counterparts even though the social stakes were much higher for them at the time." Well said. 

"Door (Robert Motherwell)" (2022)

Gabriel chose the artists to feature in her book based on the 20 year differential in their collective ages and their respective contributions to Abstract Expressionism. Two of the subjects she chose were married to male artists whose work was also included in the exhibit. Elaine de Kooning was married to Willem; Lee Krasner to Jackson Pollock. In addition, Helen Frankenthaler would later marry Robert Motherwell. These relationships add another layer of complexity to the story.  

I was more or less aware of the Ninth Street Women because of Gabriel's book. But I'd never heard of the Irascibles. The ad hoc group came together as a result of the Met's decision to mount an exhibit entitled "American Painting Today - 1950." The NY Times waxed eloquent about the importance of the exhibit. The article read, in part:

"The exhibition 'American Painting Today - 1950'... has implications beyond the confines of the American art field. At a time of international gloom and foreboding, and when liberties in totalitarian nations are curtailed or suppressed, the greatest museum in the country is playing host to the work of more than three hundred artists of all phases of esthetic production. 

"Last Clean Shirt (Bob Thompson)" (2023)

In the countries of the Soviet bloc, as in Hitler's Reich, art's free expression is frowned upon unless it can be turned to purposes of propaganda for the state. But in American democracy the Metropolitan, with a conservative tradition, set out to obtain a nation-wide survey of the condition of American painting... The work selected has been chosen for its merits as painting and for its significance, by artists themselves...

The Metropolitan's gesture at this time, in a confused and heartsick world, is itself an affirmation of belief in the importance of culture and a further affirmation of democratic principles at a time when faith is sorely needed." 

The references to "democratic principles" employed in the creation of the exhibit comes from the Met's use of five regional juries -- comprised of artists and one museum representative -- that culled the 6,248 submissions down to 761 paintings sent on to the Met for review. The final exhibit included 307 paintings. 

"Ninth Street Women meet The Irascibles" (2020)

The artists who became known as the Irascibles chose not to enter the competition because they believed the jurors were predisposed against "advanced art." Given the cultural significance of the exhibit, the group -- comprised of 17 male and one female painters -- believed it was necessary to make their concerns public. The artists' open letter to the President of the Met was provided to the NY Times and other news outlets. In its coverage of the exhibit, Life magazine included a copy of the letter and a picture of the signatories with the caption "Irascible Group of Advanced Artists Led Fight Against Show." And so they became known as the Irascibles. To read more about the Irascibles and to see the iconic photograph of the group, click here.  

A big thanks to Wendi for including this show in our afternoon of gallery hopping. I loved Grooms' paintings and the fact that the exhibit gave me a nudge to learn about these significant moments in art history. For more on Grooms, who at 86 years old is still creating exciting and relevant work, click here. And now it's time for a nap.