Abstract Drawings at the Smitshonian

Abstract Drawings presents a selection of 46 works on paper from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s (Washington, USA) permanent collection that are rarely on public display. From simple sketches to highly finished compositions, these works represent the rich possibilities of abstraction as a mode of artistic expression.

American artists began to experiment with abstraction in the early 20th century. The installation includes works from the 1930s to 2009 by artists such as Joseph Cornell, Gene Davis, Jacob Kainen, Willem de Kooning, Man Ray, Theodore Roszak and Sean Scully. In many of the drawings, references to objects, figures or places remain visible, but they have been transformed into compositions that have only a passing resemblance to their source of inspiration, such as Charles Seliger’s 1945 series of 14 illustrations for the unfinished satire An Island in the Moon by poet William Blake.

Date: until January 6.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum. 8th and F Streets, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20004.
USA.
Opening hours: from Monday to Sunday from 11.30am to 7pm.

See more works of this exhibition here: