The Turning Point: The Abstract Expressionists and the Transformation of American Art

Rating:
Summary: second-hand art lore isn't worth the read
Review: This removed and often second-hand journal of the 1950s School of New York is a mostly dry read whose uncommon interesting whirls really resolve themselves like a flaky TV episode of Chuck Norris. Too often, these complex characters are conceived by the author as stereotypes of American fairytaledom. Their frailties are not well-enough addressed and sparsely dotted among habitual drone and American folk imagery. Elaine deKooning, Lee Krasner, and other groundbreaking artists of the time such as Frankenthaler and Hopper, who may not represent the core of the Expressionist flame, but nevertheless burned bright have been neglected alongside other surrounding artistic circumstances. Besides these prominent shortcomings, the author is also lacking in bravery of prose. This is not an exciting read, but it is adequate in that it does not defeat itself while getting across the vital struggle for serious contemplation of American Art in the 1950s. Certainly not a "turning point" in literature, it provides facts and lore in a predictable and easily understood manner