Made in U.S.A.: An Americanization in Modern Art, the '50s and '60s

Robert Rauschenberg, Retroactive I (page 37).

AN AMERICANIZATION IN MODERN ART,

THE ’5 0 s & ’6 0s

Sidra Stich

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

PRESS

BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON

University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

© 1987 by

The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stich, Sidra.

Made in U.S.A.

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

ï. Art, American—Exhibitions. 2. Art, Modern—

20th century—United States—Exhibitions. 3. United States—Popular culture—Pictorial works—Exhibitions.

1. University of California, Berkeley. University

Art Museum. II. Title.

N6512.S664 1987 709’. 73'074019467 86-24979

ISBN 0-520-05756-2 (alk. paper)

ISBN 0-520-05757-0 (pbk.:alk. paper)

Acknowledgment is made for permission to reproduce the following poems:

Digression on ‘Number 1,’ 1948, from The (Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara, by Frank O’Hara, edited by Donald Allen, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright © 1971 by Maureen Granville-Smith, Administratrix of the Estate of Frank O’Hara.

"On First Seeing Larry Rivers’ Washington Crossing the Delaware at The Museum of Modern Art," from Meditations in an Emergency, by Frank O’Hara, published by Grove Press, Inc. Copyright © 1957 by Frank O’Hara. Reprinted with permission of Grove Press, Inc.

Printed in Japan

123456789

The book serves as a catalogue for an exhibition organized by the University Art Museum, Berkeley, and shown at

University Art Museum

University of California

Berkeley, California

April 4-June 21, 1987

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kansas City, Missouri

July 25-September 6, 1987

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Richmond, Virginia

October 7-December 7, 1987

Jasper Johns, Flag on Orange Field, II (page 20).

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

Illustrations

Foreword

Acknowledgments

PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS

LENDERS TO MADE IN U.S.A. EXHIBITION

An Americanization in Modern Art, the ’50s & ’60s

Introduction

The Cultural Climate in America after World War II

American Icons

Cities, Suburbs, and Highways—The New American Landscape

American Food and American Marketing

American Mass Media

The American Dream / The American Dilemma

Epilogue

Other Perspectives: Literature and Mass Media

James E. B. Breslin Frank O’Hara, Popular Culture, and American Poetry in the 1950s

Thomas Schaub Caricature and Fiction in the Affluent Society

Ben H. Bagdikian Endings, Beginnings, and Endings: Media in the 1950s

Chronology

Bibliography

Index

Illustrations

Works preceded by an asterisk are included in the

MADE IN U.S.A.

exhibition.

*i. Larry Rivers, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1953 15

2. Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851 15

3. Grant Wood, Daughters of Revolution, 1932 16

4. Roy Lichtenstein, Washington Crossing the Delaware, ca. 1951 18

5. Alex Katz, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1961 18

* 6. Jasper Johns, Flag on Orange Field, II, 1958 20

* 7. Jasper Johns, Flag, 1955 21

* 8. Jasper Johns, Sculpmetal Flag, 1960 21

* 9. Jasper Johns, Flags, 1965 22

* 10. Claes Oldenburg, Flag, 1960 23

* 11. Claes Oldenburg, The Old Dump Flag, 1960 24

* 12. Claes Oldenburg, Heel Flag, 1960 25

13. Claes Oldenburg, U.S.A. Flag, 1960 25

* 14. Jake Berthot, Little Flag Painting, 1961 26

* 15. George Herms, Flag, 1962 27

* 16. Tom Wesselmann, Little Great American Nude #6, 1961 28

* 17. Tom Wesselmann, Little Great American Nude #7, 1961 29

* 18. Tom Wesselmann, Great American Nude #8, 1961 30

19. Henri Matisse, Large Reclining Nude, 1935

30

20. Allan DArcangelo, American Madonna #1, 1962 31

*21. Jasper Johns, Map, 1962 33

*22. Edward Kienholz, George Warshington in Drag, 1957 33

23. Roy Lichtenstein, George Washington, 1962 34

*24. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life #ji, 1963 35

*25. Robert Rauschenberg, Lincoln, 1958 35

26. Robert Rauschenberg, Factum I, 1957 36

*27. Robert Rauschenberg, Retroactive I, 1964

37

28. James Rosenquist, President Elect, 1960-61

38

*29. Edward Kienholz, Untitled American President, 1962 39

30. John Haberle, Changes of Time, 1888 40

31. Andy Warhol, One Dollar Bills, 1962 40

*32. Phillip Hefferton, Sweet Funk, 1963 41

*33. Robert Arneson, In God We Trust, 1965 41

34. Phillip Hefferton, White House, 1963 42

35. Andy Warhol, Statue of Liberty, 1963 42

*36. Richard Artschwager, The Washington Monument, 1964 43

37. Claes Oldenburg, The Street, 1960 46

*38. Claes Oldenburg, Upside Down City, 1962

⁴⁷,

39. Charles Sheeler, Skyscrapers (Offices), 1922

⁴⁸

* 40. Richard Artschwager, Rise Apartment, 1964 49

* 41. Peter Saul, High Class San Francisco, 1967

50

* 42. Romare Bearden, Childhood Memories, 1965

51

* 43. Romare Bearden, Backyard, 1967 51

* 44. Romare Bearden, Black Manhattan, 1969

51

45. Robert Rauschenberg, Estate, 1963 52

* 46. Robert Rauschenberg, Choke, 1964 53

* 47. Red Grooms, One Way, 1964 54

* 48. Richard Estes, Welcome to 42nd Street (Victory Theater), 1968 55

49. Richard Estes, Cordon’s Cin, 1968 56

*50. Edward Ruscha, Hollywood Study, 1966

57

51. James Rosenquist, Morning Sun, 1963 57

* 52. James Rosenquist, Louis D. Brandeis on Democracy (Untitled), 1965 58

* 53- Joe Goode, November tj, 1963, 1963 59

* 54. Joe Goode, The Most of It, 1963 60

* 55. Richard Artschwager, Untitled (Tract Home), 1964 61

* 56. Robert Bechtle, ‘6o T-Bird, 1967-68 62

* 57. Robert Bechtle, Kona Kai, 1967 62

58. Robert Arneson, tjoj Alice Street, Fiewed (as if it ivere a Billboard) From the Corner of L and Alice, 1968 63

*59. Allan D’Arcangelo, Full Moon, 1962 64

*60. Allan DArcangelo, U.S. Highway / [panel 2], 1963 65

61. Rene Magritte, The Empire of Light, II, 1950 66

62. Ralston Crawford, Overseas Highway, 1939 66

*63. Edward Ruscha, Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas, 1963 67

64. Stuart Davis, Town Square, 1925-26 68

65. Edward Hopper, Cas, 1940 68

66. Edward Ruscha, Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas, from the book Twentysix Gasoline Stations, 1963. 69

*67. John Baldessari, Looking East on 4th and C, Chula l/ista, 1967 70

*68. Vija Celmins, Freeway, 1966 71

69. George Segal, The Gas Station, 1963

72-73

*70. George Segal, Man Leaving a Bus, 1967 74

*71. Wayne Thiebaud, Trucker’s Supper, 1961

76

*72. Wayne Thiebaud, Five Hot Dogs, 1961 78

*73. Claes Oldenburg, Hamburger, 1961 79

74. Claes Oldenburg, Two Cheeseburgers with

Everything (Dual Hamburgers), 1962 79

75. Claes Oldenburg, Giant Hamburger, 1962

80

76. Reginald Marsh, White Tower Hamburger, 1945 80

*77. Tony Berlant, Camel Burger, 1963 81

*78. Claes Oldenburg, French Fries and Ketchup,

1963 82

79. Robert Watts, TV Dinner, 1965 83

80. Wayne Thiebaud, Four Ice Cream Cones,

1964 84

* 81. Claes Oldenburg, Floor Cone, 1962 85

* 82. Claes Oldenburg, Soft Fur Good Humors,

1963 85

* 83. Wayne Thiebaud, Bakery Counter, 1961-62

86

84. Claes Oldenburg, Pastry Case, I, 1961-62

86

*85. Wayne Thiebaud, Lunch Table, 1964 87

*86. Roy Lichtenstein, Cherry Pie, 1962 88

87. Stuart Davis, Lucky Strike, 1924 89

88. Andy Warhol, Soup Cans, 1962 90

89. Andy Warhol, Big Torn Campbell’s Soup

Can, 1962 91

*90. Andy Warhol, 210 Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962

92

91. Andy Warhol, Five Coke Bottles, 1962 93

92. H. C. Westermann, Pillar of Truth, 1962

94.

93. H. C. Westermann, White for Purity, 1959-60 94

*94. H. C. Westermann, Trophy for a Gasoline

Apollo, 1961 94

95. Robert Rauschenberg, Coca Cola Plan, 1958 95

* 96. Robert Arneson, Case of Bottles, 1963 96

* 97. Robert Arneson, Hydrox, 1966 97

* 98. Larry Rivers, Webster and Cigars, 1966 98

* 99. Larry Rivers, The Friendship of America and

France (Kennedy and de Gaulle) 1961-62 99

100. Jasper Johns, Painted Bronze, 1960 100

101. Claes Oldenburg, The Store, 1961 101

*102. Claes Oldenburg, 7-Up with Cake, 1961

IOI

103. Claes Oldenburg, The Store, 1962 102

* 104. Andy Warhol, Brillo, Campbell’s Tomato

Juice, and Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Boxes, 1964

103

* 105. Peter Saul, Icebox, 1960 104

* 106. Richard Estes, Food City, 1967 105

107. Richard Estes, The Candy Store, 1969 106

*108. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life #24, 1962 107

*109- Tom Wesselmann, Still Life 1963 108

no. Robert Rauschenberg, Gloria, 1956 112

in. Pablo Picasso, Bottle, Glass and Violin,

1912-13 113

112. Hannah Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife,

1919 114

113. Gerald Murphy, backdrop for Within the Quota, 1923 115

*114. Andy Warhol, A Boy for Meg, 1961 116

*115. Edward Ruscha, Flash, L.A. Tinies, 1963

117

*116. Vija Celmins, T V, 1965 118

*117. Edward Kienholz, Instant On, 1964 119

*118. Edward Kienholz, Six o'Clock Notus, 1964

120

119. May Stevens, Prime Time, 1967 121

120. Andy Warhol, S199 Television, 1960 121

121. Robert Rauschenberg, Brace, 1962 122

122. Ellen Lanyon, Ya Ya Yogi, 1962 123

123. Andy Warhol, Baseball, 1962 124

124. Robert Rauschenberg, Echo, 1962 125

*125. Wayne Thiebaud, Football Player, 1963 126

*126. Karl Wirsum, Baseball Girl, 1964 127

* 127. Ray Johnson, Elvis Presley No. 1, ca. 1955 129

* 128. Andy Warhol, Triple Elvis, 1962 130

* 129. Ray Johnson, James Dean, 1957 132

* 130. Willem de Kooning, Marilyn Monroe, 1954 133

* 131. Ray Johnson, Hand Marilyn Monroe, 1958

Ui

132. George Segal, The Movie Poster, 1967 135

*133. Andy Warhol, Ttventy-f ve Colored Marilyns, 1962 136

134. Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe’s Lips, 1962 137

135. James Rosenquist, Woman I, 1962 138

136. James Rosenquist, Marilyn Monroe, I, 1962

139

137. Andy Warhol, The Men in Her Life (Mike Todd and Eddie Fisher), 1962 140

138. Andy Warhol, Blue Liz as Cleopatra, 1962

140

139. James Rosenquist, Untitled (Joan Cranford Says …), 1964 141

*140. Marisol, Bob Hope, 1967 142

141. Marisol, Hugh Hefner, 1967 143

*142. Ed Paschke, Tightroper, 1967 144

143. Ed Paschke, Dos Criados, 1968 145

*144. Jess, Tricky Cad—Case I, 1954 146

*145. Jess, Tricky Cad—Case V, 1958 147

146. Andy Warhol, Dick Tracy, 1960 148

*147. Jim Nutt, Snooper Trooper, 1967 149

*148. Jim Nutt, Y Did He Du It? 1966-67 150

*149. Mel Ramos, Superman, 1961 151

150. Mel Ramos, The Phantom, C2. 1963-64

152

151. Andy Warhol, Superman, 1960 153

*152. Roy Lichtenstein, Popeye, 1961 153

153. Roy Lichtenstein, Look Mickey, 1961 154

154. Edward Ruscha, Annie, 1962 155

*155. Roy Lichtenstein, Mr. Bellamy, 1961 156

*156. Roy Lichtenstein, Craig, 1964 156

*157. Roy Lichtenstein, Eddie Diptych, 1962 157

158. Roy Lichtenstein, Torpedo … Los! 1963

158

*159. Hairy Who, Hairy Who Catalogue, 1966

159

*160. Robert Indiana, The Demuth American Dream

#5, 1963 163

161. Charles Henry Demuth, I Satv the Figure Five in Gold, 1928 164

*162. Allan DArcangelo, Can Our National Bird Survive? 1962 165

*163. Bruce Conner, Untitled, 1954-62 166-67

*164. Wallace Berman, Untitled, 1967 169

*165. Jess, The Face in the Abyss, 1955 170

*166. Llyn Foulkes, Death Valley U.S.A., 1963

171

167. Larry Rivers, The Accident, 1957 172

*168. Andy Warhol, Orange Disaster, 1963 173

*169. Billy Al Bengston, Skinny’s 21, 1961 174

*170. Duane Hanson, Motorcycle Accident, 1969

175

*171. Andy Warhol, Most Wanted Men, No. 1: John

M. (Front Vieto and Profile), 1963 176

172. Rosalyn Drexler, Home Movies, ¡963 ¡77

173. Roy Lichtenstein, Fastest Gun, 1963 178

174. Roy Lichtenstein, Pistol, 1964 178

175. James Montgomery Flagg, / Want You for

U.S. Army, 1917 179

176. Bruce Conner, Homage to Chessman, 1960

180

177. Andy Warhol, Orange Disaster, 1963 181

*178. May Stevens, Big Daddy Paper Doll, 1968

182

* 179. Andy Warhol, Jackie (The Week That Was), 1963 183

* 180. Ed Paschke, Purple Ritual, 1967 184

* 181. Andy Warhol, Race Riot, 1963 186

* 182. Faith Ringgold, God Bless America, 1964

187

183. Faith Ringgold, The Flag Is Bleeding, 1967

188

184. Raymond Saunders, American Dream, 1968

189

185. Joe Overstreet, New Jemima, 1964 190

*186. Robert Indiana, Alabama, 1965 191

*187. Allan DArcangelo, U.S. 80 (In Memory of

Mrs. Liuzzo), 1965 192

188. H. C. Westermann, Evil New War God, 1958 193

189. Edward Kienholz, O'er the Ramparts We Watched Fascinated, 1959 194

190. James Rosenquist, F-111 [detail], 1965 194-95

191. Neil Jenney, Them and Us, 1969 196

192. Peter Saul, Saigon, 1967 197

193. Red Grooms, The Patriots’ Parade, 1967

198

194. Edward Kienholz, The Eleventh Hour Final, 1968 199

195. Edward Kienholz, The Portable War Memorial, 1968 200-201

196. Claes Oldenburg, Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks, 1969 202

197. Robert Rauschenberg, Kite, 1963 203

198. Robert Rauschenberg, Tracer, 1963 204

Foreword

The fifties and sixties were complex and exciting decades in American history and American art. An important aspect of the period was the emergence of an outstanding body of paintings and sculptures that unabashedly embraced American mass culture and featured a conspicuously American imagery. Traditional national symbols, the physical environment, favored products, mass media, popular myths, and contemporary political events served as sources of inspiration for subject matter and new modes of compositional display. In offering a rich contextual explication of the iconography of a wide range of postwar American works, MADE IN U.S.A, reveals the broad diversity of approaches to American themes and issues.

The University Art Museum is pleased to provide the opportunity for greater appreciation and enhanced understanding of this art and the period that shaped it. A project of this scope, of course, represents the efforts of many people and institutions. On behalf of the trustees and staff of the museum, I express deep gratitude to the lenders whose generosity has made this exhibition possible and whose enthusiasm for the project has served as a source of encouragement throughout the years of its development. Special thanks are also due to Marc F. Wilson, director of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and Paul N. Perrot, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, whose cooperation has greatly facilitated the planning and execution of the exhibition s tour.

In preparing this book we have been exceedingly fortunate to have worked with the University of California Press, its director Jim Clark, and its able and patient staff. The press’s mark of quality is imprinted on the project and for this we are extremely appreciative.

Generous grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, Luce Fund for Scholarship in American Art, a program of The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc., Best Products Foundation, A.T.&T Foundation, and California First Bank provided the necessary financial support, and we are most grateful to these organizations.

This project was conceived of by Sidra Stich, senior curator at the University Art Museum. She contributed the main essay to this book, selected the exhibition, diligently secured loans, and supervised all aspects of the project. Her efforts and dedication have made this a notable undertaking.

James Elliott Director University Art Museum, Berkeley

Acknowledgments

The organization of the exhibition MADE IN U.S.A, and the publication of this book have involved the assistance, advice, and cooperation of many people. Private collectors were extremely generous in sharing their art and providing enriching information. I am deeply grateful to those who have lent works to the exhibition. Artists were also most helpful in discussing their work or the period, or in assisting with loans. I am especially indebted to Robert Arneson, Rudolf Baranik, Robert Bechtle, Tony Berlant, Jake Berthot, Bruce Conner, Allan D’Arcangelo, Wally Hedrick, George Herms, Jess, Jasper Johns, Ray Johnson, Allan Kaprow, Edward Kienholz, Alfred Leslie, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Edward Ruscha, Peter Saul, George Segal, May Stevens, Wayne Thiebaud, Robert Watts, and Tom Wesselmann.

My research was enhanced by conversations with individuals who participated in the American art world of the 1950s and 1960s, and with scholars who specialize in the postwar era. For this 1 extend thanks to Richard Abrams, Dennis Adrian, Don Baum, Richard Bellamy, Irving Blum, Peter Boswell, Ernest A. Busche, Mary Schmidt Campbell, Leo Castelli, John Coplans, Wanda Corn, Robert Dean, Todd Gitlin, Harold Glicksman, Barbara Haskell, Ruth Horwich, Richard Hutson, Thomas A. Leonard, Lawrence Levine, Kathleen Moran, Michael Rogin, Peter Selz, John Weber, and William S. Wilson.

For their time and kindness in facilitating loans and providing documentation, I owe a large measure of gratitude to the following: Thomas Ammann Fine Art (Monica Burri), Betty Asher, Leo Castelli Gallery (Lisa Martizia), Sarah H. Cooke, Terry Dintinfass, Virginia Dwan, Allan Frumkin, Joni Gordon, Nora Halpern, Wanda Hansen, Joseph A. Helman, Nick Howey, Sidney Janis Gallery, Phyllis Kind Gallery (William H. Bengtson), Margo Leavin, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, Olivia Motch, Reinhard Onnasch, Richard L. Palmer, Cora Rosevear, William S. Rubin, Salander- O’Reilly Galleries, Sonnabend Gallery (Antonio Homem), Frederick Voss, and David White.

During the course of planning this project, 1 have enjoyed the support and assistance of the entire staff of the University Art Museum. I particularly wish to thank James Elliott, director; Ronald Egherman, deputy director; Mary Ellen Murphy, development director; Edith Kramer, curator of film; Nina Hubbs, head of installation and design; Arnold Sandrock, business manager; Barbara Berman, publicist; and Jane Kamplain, registrar. For their attention to the myriad of details associated with preparing the texts and securing loans and photographs, I am extremely grateful to Joan Perlman, Eve Vanderstoel, and Marijke van Doorn. I have also had the good fortune of having a superb assistant, Elizabeth Boone, who has worked with diligence, efficiency, and good humor on all aspects of this project.

Colleagues at the museums on the tour of the exhibition have been most helpful and delightful to work with. My sincere thanks to Marc F. Wilson and Deborah Emont Scott at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and Paul N. Perrot, Richard B. Woodward, and Frederick R. Brandt at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

For her sustained interest in this project, Mary Jane Hickey of the Henry Luce Foundation deserves special mention.

The publication of this book is the result of the care and expertise of the University of California Press. I particularly thank Amy Einsohn for her insightful, sensitive editing, Steve Renick for his outstanding design, Marilyn Schwartz for her skillful supervision of the production, and Laird Easton for his general assistance. To Jim Clark, whose unfailing confidence in this project and personal encouragement have been a source of strength throughout, I am profoundly grateful.

Lastly, I thank Ben H. Bagdikian, James Breslin, and Thomas Schaub, whose essays add significantly to the content of this book, and Moira Roth for her constructive reading of the text, her continued enthusiasm for the project, and her warm friendship.

PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS

Thomas Ammann Fine Art, Zurich: 151. Jörg P. Anders, Berlin: 112. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto: 75. William H. Bengston, Chicago: 143, 180. Ben Blackwell, Berkeley: 6, 10, 56, 66, 72, 144, 149. Jon Blumb, Lawrence, Kansas: 179. Rudolph Burckhardt, New York: 103, 124. Rudolph Burckhardt, courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery, New York: 158, 190. Leo Castelli Gallery, New York: 36. Geoffrey Clements, New York: 76, 107, 145, 192. Charles Cowles Gallery, New York: 104, 150. Bevan Davis, courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery, New York: 152, 153. D. James Dec, courtesy David McKee Gallery, New York: 14. The Detroit Institute of Arts: 181. W. Drayer, Zurich: 89. eeva-in- keri, New York: 41. Thomas Feist, New York: 33. Chuck Garner, Vermillion Photographic, Phoenix: 80. Hickey and Robertson, Houston: 22. Sidney Janis Gallery, New York: 132. Jochen Littkemann, Berlin: 35. Alfred Lutjeans, Los Angeles: 154. Robert R. McElroy, New York: 101. Joseph Maloney, New York: 91. Robert E. Mates, New York: 88, 177. Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York: 49. Robert Miller, Portland, Oregon: 170. The Museum of Modern Art, New York: 18, 127. Otto E. Nelson, Ithaca, New York: 171. William Nettles, Los Angeles: 95. Douglas M. Parker, Los Angeles: 32, 55, 67, 169, 173. Eric Pollitzer, New York: 8, 16, 17, 43, 81, 98, 129, 131, 178, 191. Eric Pollitzer, courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery, New York: 23. Nathan Rabin, New York: 13, 118. Nathan Rabin, courtesy Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York: 92. Rheinisches Bildarchiv, Cologne: 100, 139, 195. Terry Richardson, Charleston, South Carolina: 57. Walter Rosenblum, South Hadley, Massachusetts: 184. Friedrich Rosenstiel, Cologne: 194. Paul Ruscha, Los Angeles: 50. Salandcr-O’Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York: 113. Sandak, Inc., New York: 188.

Manu Sassoonian, New York: 42. Schenck and Schenck, New York: 68. Marc Schuman, Glenwood Springs. Colorado: 120. Harry Shunk, courtesy Leo Castelli Gallery, New York: 7. Shunk- Kender, New York: 196. Squidds & Nunns, Los Angeles: 26, 29, 77, 116, 117, 166. Statens Kunst- museer, Stockholm: III, 193. Jerry L. Thompson, Amenia, New York: 78, 146. Roland I. Unruh, Miami: 94. Tom Van Eynde, Chicago: 47, 93, 126, 135. Malcolm Varon, New York: 182, 183. Tom Vinetz, New York: 165. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut: 102. Robert Watts, Bangor, Pennsylvania: 79. David Webber, Boston: 15, 189. Ellen Page Wilson, Phoenix: 121. Dorothy Zeid- man, New York: 9, 11, 12.

LENDERS TO

MADE IN U.S.A. EXHIBITION

Robert E. Abrams

Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio

Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio

The Stephen S. Alpert Family Trust

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Lawrence and Evelyn Aronson

The Art Institute of Chicago

Ruth Askey

Rudolf Baranik

Robert H. Bergman

Jake Berthot

John Bransten

The Edward R. Broida Trust, Los Angeles Carolina Art Association, Gibbes Art Gallery, Charleston, South Carolina

Richard V. Clarke

Harold Cook

William N. Copley

Charles Cowles Gallery, New York

Susan Dakin

Allan DArcangelo

Roger I. Davidson

The Detroit Institute of Arts

Norman Dolph

Robert Duncan

Mr. and Mrs. Alan Englander

Betty and Monte Factor

Fort Worth Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York

Diana Fuller

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Goetz

Foster Goldstrom

The Grinstein Family

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire

Walter Hopps

Mrs. Ruth Horwich

Marian B. Javits

Jasper Johns

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

RayJohnson

Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles

Sydney and Frances Lewis

Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon David Lichtenstein

Mead Corporation Collection, Dayton, Ohio Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, Ohio The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Walter and Anne Nathan

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri

Neuberger Museum, State University of New York at Purchase

Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California

Claude Nutt

Jim Nutt

Odyssia Gallery, New York

Claes Oldenburg

Joan and Jack Quinn

Scot Ramos

Robert Rauschenberg

Faith Ringgold

Larry Rivers

Jane and Ruth Root

Mary Lou Rosenquist

Edward Ruscha

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library

Robert Shapazian

Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts

Ileana and Michael Sonnabend

Sonnabend Gallery, New York

Stanford University Museum of Art, Stanford, California

Allan Stone Gallery, New York

Marc and Livia Straus

Wayne Thiebaud

Mr. and Mrs. Burton Tremaine

University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut

Sam Wagstaff

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Washington University Gallery of Art, St. Louis, Missouri

The Frederick R. Weisman Foundation of Art, Los Angeles

Marcia S. Weisman

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

William S. Wilson

Laura-Lee W. Woods

Anonymous lenders

Sidra Stich

An Americanization in

Modern Art, the ’50s & ’60s

Introduction

Although the focus on American themes and subjects in American art of the 1950s and 1960s has been generally recognized, art historians and critics have not yet set this body of work in a cultural context that elaborates upon the nature and significance of its iconography. When in the mid-fifties, Larry Rivers, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg first exhibited paintings featuring George Washington, the American flag, and mass media images, critical commentary emphasized the artists’ abandonment of the prevailing tendency toward abstraction. Subject matter was treated as a Dadaist joke or an arbitrary aspect of the dialogue between art and life. Similarly, appreciations and critiques of the assemblages and collages by Bruce Conner, George Herms, Ray Johnson, Edward Kienholz, and H. C. Westermann focused on their formal strategies or outrageous content with only tacit or generalized regard for the contextual implications of the subject matter. Because art critics defined groupings by stylistic determinants, the shared iconographie tendencies, the artists’ telling shift away from images associated with European culture and toward images allied with American culture, passed largely unrecognized.

By the early sixties, the presence of archetypal American images shaped by contemporary American mass culture was impossible to ignore. The works of Allan D’Arcangelo, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, George Segal, Andy Warhol, and Tom Wesselmann provoked critics to define and name the new trend. Sometimes including and sometimes overlooking fifties precedents, critics variously christened the art New Realism, Popular Image Art, Common Object Art, Factualism, Neo-Dadaism, American Dream Painting, Sign Painting, AntiSensibility Painting, and Cool-Art. They ultimately settled on Pop Art, a term coined by Lawrence Alloway to describe British painting of the 1950s that incorporated American mass media imagery.’ Critical attention to the emerging art was extensive, immediate, and impassioned—both for and against. The unprecedented fervor and excitement about the new American art spread to gallery dealers, museum curators, collectors, and the popular press.

Although the artists themselves formed no organized group or movement, many in the art world gave considerable attention to defining a group ethos and identifying which artists did or did not belong. Of even greater concern were issues about the quality of the art and intention of the artists. The machined appearance, deadpan expression, and mass culture imagery of postwar American art provoked endless heated controversies: Is it art? What does it mean? Does it sufficiently transform its sources to be considered art? Is it optimistic or pessimistic, satirical or celebratory of American culture? The following sampling of comments suggests the nature and diversity of the debate.

The truth is, the art galleries are being invaded by the pinheaded and contemptible style of gum-chewers, bobby soxers, and, worse, delinquents. … Save us from the uncharmers, or permutations thereof, the Rosensteins and Oldenquists! (Max Kozloff, Pop Culture, Metaphysical Disgust, and the New Vulgarians, Art hitcrna- donai, March 1962.)

Entertaining is the right word, for the show [the New Realism group exhibition at the Sidney Janis Gallery, 1962] docs not often transcend visual social comment: a sort of red, blue and yellow journalism. … The art | is of course founded on the premise that mass culture is bad, an expression of spiritual poverty. (Brian O’Doherty. Art: Avant-Garde Revolt, Nen York Times, October 31, 1962.)

Pop art derives its small, feeble victories from the juxtaposition of two cliches: a cliche of form superimposed on a cliche of image. And it is its failure to do anything more than this that makes it so beguiling to talk about— that makes pop art the conversation piece par excellence— for it requires talk to complete itself. Only talk can effect the act of imaginative synthesis which the art itself fails to erteci. (Hilton Kramer, statement in Symposium on Pop Art, December 13, 1962, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; text printed in Arts Magazine, April 1963).

I have heard it said that pop art is not art, and this by a museum curator. My feeling is that it is the artist who defines the limits of art, not the critic or the curator. … Pop art is a new two-dimensional landscape painting, the artist responding specifically to his visual environment. The artist is looking around again and painting what he sees. … If we look for attitudes of approval and disapproval of our culture in the art, or satire or glorification of our society, we are oversimplifying. (Henry Geldzahler, ibid.)

[The new artists] share an intense passion for direct experience, for unqualified participation in the richness of our immediate world, whatever it may have become, for better or worse. For them this means a kind of total acceptance; they reject nothing except all of our previous aesthetic canons. … They want us to share with them their pleasure and excitement at feeling and being, in an unquestioning and optimistic way. (Alan R. Solomon, The Popular Image, exhibition catalogue, Washington Gallery of Modern Art, 1963.)

(Pop art I is essentially a mild, unrebellious comment on the commonplace made by picturing it without any pretense of taste or orthodox technical skill. … Ten, 20 or 50 years ago, any artist would have been snubbed for such unimaginative, unintellectual literalism. … [Pop art I esthetics often turn out to be a bag of raucous gimmicks that merely assault the nerves. (Pop Art—Cult of the Commonplace, Time, May 3, 1963.)

The reason these works leave us thoroughly dissatisfied lies not in their means but in their end: most of them have nothing at all to say. … The interpretation or transformation of reality achieved by the Pop Artist, insofar as it exists at all, is limp and unconvincing. It is this want of imagination, this passive acceptance of things as they are that makes these pictures so unsatisfactory at