Richard Pousette-Dart is one of the most well established artists of the twentieth century and a special exhibition of his work is currently on view at The Drawing Center in Soho. The exhibition titled Richard Pousette-Dart: 1930s includes approximately 80 of his drawings from that time. Growing up in New York City to parents who worked in creative fields, Pousette-Dart was constantly inspired by the arts and culture and took up drawing and painting at age eight.
As a young man in the 1930s, he began studying the abstract sculptures, drawings, and forms of French artist Henri Gaudier-Brzeska who had passed away two decades earlier at age 23. Pousette-Dart created many abstract, three-dimensional drawings during this time with many of them focusing on human and animal forms all while taking into account relationships between positive and negative space.
One of the works in the show that truly stands out is Bird and Fish, a piece that eloquently illustrates harmony. As the title suggests, the piece features outlines of the two creatures filled with a forest-green watercolor paint. The bird sits to the left, perched with its eyes closed and wings resting at the sides of its body while the fish lays in a diagonal position close to the bird, upside down with its eyes closed with his head facing the bird’s back feathers and its tail facing the bird’s beak.
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| Bird and Fish (1930s) by Richard Pousette-Dart |
The study of dance is also a very popular subject of Pousette-Dart’s drawings. One intriguing untitled piece illustrates the outline of a man against a sky blue background, his upper body larger than his lower body as he stands in a pose with his feet stretched out and holding his arms out in front as he makes mysterious movements with his hands.
One of Pousette-Dart’s most raw works in the show is Agony depicting a man suffering that dreadful state of being. The man stands with one knee bent as he’s hunched over with his arms and head hanging as though grief and the weight of the world are bearing down on him. The crimson background brings added gravity. In Walking Man, Pousette-Dart uses two colors that starkly contrast with a bright yellow background and a crimson-colored shapes separated by thick, black brushstrokes forming the body of a man on the move. The outlines of each shape effectively illustrate the man’s muscular physique nearly resembling a robot.
At The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster St., through Dec. 20. Open Wed.—Sun. from 12—6 p.m., and Thu. from 12—8 p.m.
