James Brooks: A Painting Is a Real Thing

This comprehensive catalog spans the seven-decade career of American Abstract Expressionist painter James Brooks (1906–92), providing an overdue reappraisal of this artist who boldly disrupted any tendency toward repeated formulas. After discarding the Social Realist style of his early career, Brooks pioneered the use of staining, dilution, and accidental deterioration of canvases.

Format: Hardback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 24 October 2023
Publisher: Distributed Art Publishers

This comprehensive catalog spans the seven-decade career of the American Abstract Expressionist painter James Brooks (1906–92), offering an overdue reappraisal of this artist who fearlessly challenged any tendency towards repetitive formulas. After abandoning the Social Realist style of his early career, Brooks pioneered the use of staining, dilution, and accidental deterioration of canvases. Boasting an eight-page gatefold and a comprehensive chronology and bibliography, this fully illustrated catalog showcases a generous sampling of Brooks' ever-evolving oeuvre: murals for the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department in the 1930s; paintings created during his military service as a combat artist for the War Departments Art Advisory Committee in the 1940s; early lithographs and paintings influenced by the Southwestern regionalism of his formative Dallas years; abstract expressionist works of the 1950s; and his later colorful abstractions that presaged some of the art of today.

This comprehensive catalog spans the seven-decade career of the American Abstract Expressionist painter James Brooks (1906–92), offering an overdue reappraisal of this artist who fearlessly challenged any tendency towards repetitive formulas. After abandoning the Social Realist style of his early career, Brooks pioneered the use of staining, dilution, and accidental deterioration of canvases. Boasting an eight-page gatefold and a comprehensive chronology and bibliography, this fully illustrated catalog showcases a generous sampling of Brooks' ever-evolving oeuvre: murals for the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department in the 1930s; paintings created during his military service as a combat artist for the War Departments Art Advisory Committee in the 1940s; early lithographs and paintings influenced by the Southwestern regionalism of his formative Dallas years; abstract expressionist works of the 1950s; and his later colorful abstractions that presaged some of the art of today.

Weight: 1304g
Dimension: 249 x 300 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781938922053