“Discovering Excellence!” An enigma for life.

Post-War II Abstract Expressionist Artists in New York City marked the beginning of New York City’s influence as the center of the western art world. 

The world of the Abstract Expressionist artists was firmly rooted in Lower Manhattan.

A walk along 8th Street would take you from the Waldorf Cafeteria, where penniless artists made “tomato soup” from the free hot water and ketchup;

past the Hans Hofmann School of Fine artists founded by the painter of the same name; 

 to

The Club, a loft where lectures and heated arguments about art carried on late into the night.Jackson Pollock’s studio was on East 8th Street,
Willem de Kooning’s Philip Guston’s, Albert Kotin's and most other pioneer New York School artists' studios were on East 10th.

Most nights the "down town artists" could be found at the Cedar Street Tavern on University Place. 

Half a century latter I am still inspired by the universality of artistic impulse.

Albert Kotin, Predators, 1951. Oil and enamel on canvas, 36 x  28 inches.
Exhibited in the famous "9th St." Exhibition, 1951.

Nicolas Carone, Untitled, 1957. Oil on canvas, 60 x 74 inches.

Alfonso Ossorio, SPLIT, 1961. Plastic and various materials on composition board, 37 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches

Leon Golub, The Orator IV, 1962. Oil on canvas, 37 x 30 3/4 inches


Albert Kotin, Testigos 1968, Quadriptych. Oil on canvas, 104 x 63 inches

Jules Olitski, Divine Hostage, 1973 Acrylic on canvas, 65 x 48 inches

Conrad Marca-Relli, Untitled, 1973. Collage and newspaper on canvas, 20 ½ x 27 ½ inches

Perle Fine, Blue-Chips Blue #1, c.1974. Acrylic polymer emulsion wood collage on masonite, 48 7/8 x 48 7/8 inches

Michael Loew, Counterpoint in Reds and Blues, 1982. Acrylic and watercolor on linen, 66 x 72 inches

               Robert Nathans, The Distractive Character, 1986. Oil on wood and                tree stumps, 36 x 14 inches

Stanley William Hayter, Untitled, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, 63.75 x 51.13 inches

Jeff Koons Reindeer paddle.  Deutsche Guggenheim  USA, 2000,  printed and painted plywood, enameled aluminum, string  11 w x 2.25 d x 15 h inches.  This work is from the edition of 900. Signed with impressed marks to reverse

Anki King, Broken Mannequin, 2002. Oil on canvas, 39 x 36 inches  

Damien Hirst, For the Love of God, 2009; Screenprint in colors with diamond dust (framed); Signed and numbered 302/1000; 12 3/4" x 9 inches 

Artist Engels, When God Meets God, 2011. Oil on Canvas and Poster Board with Paper, Frame, Wood, Staples, Wire, Nail, Screws,and Bamboo

Anki King, Fall, 2012. Oil on canvas, 53 x 74 inches

The desire to discover excellence results in a perpetual agony that occasionally is compensated with ecstasy. 

Art and Individuality

“What the superior man seeks is in himself; 

what the small man seeks is in 

others.” ― Confucius

Following World War II the relevance of 

individual identity in art has been 

disregarded. This blog intends to shed light on 

the continued expression of individuality by 

artists. 

Karl Zerbe (1903 – 1972) 

[All modern artists have] "the desire to give to 

the object a functional beyond its naturalistic 

aspect to free it from its accidental 

surroundings, to develop and organize it within 

the frame of the picture into an emotional 

potential. In other words, the object is 

elevated to a symbol." 

Karl Zerbe, Self Portrait with Clown, 1945. Encaustic, 19 1/2 x 15 1/4 inches.

Karl Zerbe, THE MASK OF HER FACE, 1948. Tempera on board, 20 x 25 3/4 inches.

Karl Zerbe, Cyprus II, 1955. Encaustic on board, 39 x 24 inches.

Balcomb Greene (1904 – 1990)

"I do not believe that art should be explicit," .... It should be suggestive and ambiguous so that the viewer has to enter in." 

Balcomb Greene, Gertrude III, 1958. Oil on canvas, 62 1/4 x 50 inches.

Balcomb Greene, Two figures,1970. Oil on canvas, 56 x 46 inches.

Balcomb Greene, Shadows and Sea, 1970. Oil on canvas, 61 x 55 inches.

Albert Kotin (1907 – 1980)

"As long as there are people such as Al Kotin, 

there is no danger to art." - Alexander Calder

Albert Kotin, Untitled, 1950. Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 inches.

Albert Kotin, Untitled, 1954. Oil on canvas, 70 x 58 inches

Albert Kotin, Party IV, 1964. Oil on canvas, 36 x 30 inches.

Albert Kotin, Testigos, 1968,  Quadriptych. Oil on canvas, 104 x 63 inches.

Albert Kotin, Modesty... The Scientist, 1968, Oil on canvas, 39 3/4 x 48 inches.

Ezio Martinelli (1913-1980) 


"For myself I venerate all of that which I am 

forced to call , for the sake of clarity, the past, 

my own Western Heritage and the even older 

and brilliant past of the Far East and Near East 

and their multiple cultures. In this way I feel I 

pay homage to the Titan's, both anonymous 

and known."

Ezio Martinelli, Untitled (Abstraction), 1949. Oil on canvas, 71 x 39 inches. 

Ezio Martinelli, Untitled, 1950. Oil on canvas, 79 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches.

Ezio Martinelli, Grief, 1951. Oil on canvas, 60 x 25 inches.

Leon Golub (1922 – 2004) 

The ART news writer Amei Wallach once wrote: "Golub was a righteous monster who reconciled painting with the unpalatable realities of his time."

Leon Golub, The Orator IV, 1962. Oil on canvas, 37 x 30 3/4 inches

Robert Nathans (1955 – 2016)  


"I bring all my memories with me as I stand in 

front of my canvases. Here my intuition comes 

into play. It will sometimes take me months of 

working. Then, somewhere in this process of 

painting and observing. I would inextricably 

disappear. Unaware of body, time, and space 

when I become painting."

Robert Nathans, The Distractive Character, 1986. Oil on wood and tree stumps, 36 x 14 inches.

Anki King (1970 – )   


"Emotions are the base of the work I make and 

I use paint and brushstrokes to express what I 

want to say, and the feeling I wish to convey. 

Painting to me is a collaborative process. Oil 

paint is a live medium and if you do something 

with it, it does something back that you again 

can respond to; it is a communication. Every 

work I create contains figures or figurative 

elements. I always enjoyed the figure and I 

have a love relationship with it as form. It is 

also the most direct way I can convey my own 

experience and it is ultimately this experience 

I create out of."

Anki King, Broken Mannequin, 2002. Oil on canvas, 39 x 36 inches.

Anki King, Fall, 2012. Oil on canvas, 54 x 74 inches.

Video projects on the art and lives of the artists of the New York School

Abstract Expressionism in the 21st Century. Part 1.

New York School 1950s-Growth of Artistic Ideas Toward the Realm of the S...