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Modern Art, Art of the 1980s and 1990s
Making It New by Henry Geldzahler β€” book cover

Making It New

by Henry Geldzahler, David Hockney
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Overview

This is Geldzahler's (longtime curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art) written legacy, a collection of essays, interviews, and talks covering three turbulent decades in which he and the artists he championed defined what was new and important in contemporary art. Foreword by David Hockney.

Synopsis

This is Geldzahler's (longtime curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art) written legacy, a collection of essays, interviews, and talks covering three turbulent decades in which he and the artists he championed defined what was new and important in contemporary art. Foreword by David Hockney.

Publishers Weekly

Geldzahler was the Metropolitan Museum of Art's curator of contemporary arts from 1966 to 1977, then served as New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs until 1982, and is currently curator of the DIA Center for the Arts in Bridgehampton, N.Y. He has spent his career attempting to bring new art to the public, and this mission is obvious in the 36 articles, interviews and lectures collected here. Written during the past 30 years, they present Geldzahler's thoughts on the work of Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Rauschenberg, and many others and demonstrate his excitement for each new style as it came along, from Pop and Happenings in the '60s to the most offbeat art of the '90s. Even if one disagrees with his assessments of such artists as Francesco Clemente, Keith Haring or Jean-Michel Basquiat, one has to appreciate a critic who, in response to an exhibition of glass works by Dale Chihuly, can state: ``. . . as if color itself were floating in the air. It is an elevating experience. It makes you walk a bit lighter for the rest of the day.'' (May)

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Geldzahler was the Metropolitan Museum of Art's curator of contemporary arts from 1966 to 1977, then served as New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs until 1982, and is currently curator of the DIA Center for the Arts in Bridgehampton, N.Y. He has spent his career attempting to bring new art to the public, and this mission is obvious in the 36 articles, interviews and lectures collected here. Written during the past 30 years, they present Geldzahler's thoughts on the work of Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Rauschenberg, and many others and demonstrate his excitement for each new style as it came along, from Pop and Happenings in the '60s to the most offbeat art of the '90s. Even if one disagrees with his assessments of such artists as Francesco Clemente, Keith Haring or Jean-Michel Basquiat, one has to appreciate a critic who, in response to an exhibition of glass works by Dale Chihuly, can state: ``. . . as if color itself were floating in the air. It is an elevating experience. It makes you walk a bit lighter for the rest of the day.'' (May)

Library Journal

Longtime curator of 20th-century art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the earliest and most vital champion of pop art, and friend and adviser to the majority of Sixties and Seventies art-world geniuses, Geldzahler is one of this country's most enduring art experts. Arguably, the veneration now accorded the artists examined here (Warhol, Rauschenberg, Kelly, de Kooning, Hockney, Bourgeois, Lichtenstein, Neel, and Basquiat) is largely due to his early cognizance and intuition. Culled from the past 30 years, these essays and interviews construct an accessible and astute summation of art in the second half of this century. This is not objective, aesthetic scholarship but a first-person account from the man who was there. Geldzahler's expertise is eclipsed only by his enthusiasm. Though some of the observations are repeated in more than one essay, and the book lacks the cohesive thesis that its title suggests, the writing is so shrewd and ardent as to render this historical and theoretical time capsule indispensable. Highly recommended.-Doug McClemont, New York

Book Details

Published
September 1, 1996
Publisher
Harcourt
Pages
384
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780156004398

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