James Brooks: From Dallas to the New York school.
Item
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Title
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James Brooks: From Dallas to the New York school.
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Identifier
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AAI3024757
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identifier
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3024757
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Creator
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Abeles, Anne L.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Gail Levin
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Date
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2001
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Art History
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Abstract
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Texas bred James Brooks, began his career as an artist when a Dallas high school student. He painted regularly until illness made it impossible some seventy years later. His long, illustrious career embraced many kinds of art-making from his early commercial work, to his murals, to his later abstract painting as an active member of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Major recognition came to Brooks as a lyrical New York School artist in 1963 when the Whitney Museum of American Art gave him a retrospective.;The introductory chapters trace his family background, education, and early career as a lithographer, muralist, and war artist. As Brooks' mature career develops, the text refocuses on the works, their content, exhibition history, and the critical response to them. It examines Brooks' theory of painting and discusses formerly unknown influences. It also considers the artist's participation in communal activities of the New York School.;Out of the research came questions that this dissertation attempts to answer. If mentioned in much Abstract Expressionism literature, why is the artist's work and name not more readily recognized? What is unique in his contribution? What is his legacy?;This research draws upon early and late literature on Abstract Expressionism and subsequent twentieth century art. The Archives of American Art, National Archives, and museum libraries held rich information, as did the artist's archives, family journals, and exhibition catalogues. James Brooks' widow, the artist Charlotte Park Brooks, has been an indispensable resource. I have interviewed such professionals as Dore Ashton and Irving Sandler who knew Brooks personally. In considering Brooks' achievement, the latter wrote, Most writers on art have overlooked the deeper content in Brooks painting.... This dissertation takes up the challenge. It revisits the artist's oeuvre and fulfills the need for a complete and current account on Brooks' lengthy career.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
