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So You Want a Retrospective?

July 16, 2010

the Hoffman period

the DeKooning period

Sometimes a “major retrospective” showing an artist’sevolution over a lifetime casts an important new light on the nature of the artist’s achievement. I felt that way about the Pollock retrospective at MOMA some years ago and about the Giorgio Morandi retrospective at the Met just last year. Sometimes, however it’s not such a great idea, at least from the standpoint of the artist’s reputation. Such was the case with Chuck Close’s huge retrospective at the Hirschhorn a few years ago; seen over a thirty-year span, the work started to seem repetitive to me, even stiff. And, I think, such is also sadly the case with the Jack Tworkov retrospective at the Provincetown Art Association Museum (“PAAM”).

abstract expressionist

Tworkov, who spent many summers as part of the New York/Provincetown axis, did some great work, no doubt, including abstract drawings with enormous energy and life and some nerve-tingling large paintings from the 60’s. The revelation in the show, however, is the degree to which Tworkov went with the flow, catching the drift of whatever winds were blowing through the art world.

more ab ex

geomtric minimalist

The show begins with some very forgettable muddy representational paintings from the 30’s and 40’s – the kind we all wish were forgotten. No discredit there, though. Everyone has that stuff or something equivalent. Then there is Tworkov’s Hans Hoffman period when he painted very creditable work in the style of the New York/Provincetown teacher of so many mid-century abstractionists. Then there is a DeKooning period, followed by the work I find the most accomplished, the abstract expressionist period. But then, I’ve always been a sucker for the ab-exers. His last pieces, done in th early 80’s, show the geometric minimalist influence of those years. You can pretty much chart the art movements of the second half of the 20th century as you walk through this retrospective.
So, Tworkov could certainly paint, but if this show is any indication, he was a follower and not a leader.

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