Description
The boldest woman of Abstract Expressionism — restored to her rightful place. Restless Ambition is Cathy Curtis’s vivid biography of Grace Hartigan (1922–2008), one of the boldest artists of the Abstract Expressionist era — who held her own in the male-dominated New York art world of the 1950s.
Curtis traces Hartigan’s journey from New Jersey to downtown New York, where she befriended Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and poet Frank O’Hara. Her large, vigorous canvases — moving from pure abstraction to powerful figurative work — won early acclaim from critics and museums alike. Yet fame was fragile: Curtis honestly portrays the struggles for recognition, for love, with alcohol.
In the 1960s Hartigan moved to Baltimore, teaching painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art for decades. Published by Oxford University Press, this deeply researched biography is essential reading for art lovers and anyone fascinated by the New York School.
Restless Ambition: Grace Hartigan, Painter
Restless Ambition: Grace Hartigan, Painter is Cathy Curtis’s vivid biography of one of the boldest artists of the Abstract Expressionist era. Grace Hartigan (1922–2008) painted with fearless energy, moving from pure abstraction to powerful figurative work — and held her own in the male-dominated New York art world of the 1950s.
Curtis traces Hartigan’s journey from New Jersey to downtown New York, where she befriended Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and poet Frank O’Hara. Her large, vigorous canvases won early acclaim from critics and museums alike. Yet fame was fragile: Curtis honestly portrays the struggles — for recognition, for love, with alcohol — that marked Hartigan’s life.
In the 1960s, Hartigan moved to Baltimore, where she taught painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art for decades, inspiring generations of students. Published by Oxford University Press, this deeply researched biography restores a major American painter to her rightful place.
Essential reading for art lovers and anyone fascinated by the New York School.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet