Catalogue - "Abstract & Figurative - Highlights of Bay Area Painting"

3rd entry in my catalogue fever installments...

"Abstract & Figurative - Highlights of Bay Area Painting", at John Berggruen until February 28, is a jaw-dropping collection of my all time favorite painters from the Bay Area, and maybe ever. There are a lot of paintings in the show from private collectors, and unless a museum (and it would probably have to be in California) organizes another mega exhibit, the paintings will probably go back into privacy for a while.

Familiarize yourself already. Fortunately, the catalogue for the exhibit will give you a leg up. It's a 10" x 10" softcover, and all artwork has been re-photographed just for the publication. No repeats, or archival images. Steven Nash wrote the introductory essay, and after that are just plates, plates, plates. Nice ones, too. My only qualm with the show is that Joan Brown is conspicuously absent, even though it's just because nothing of hers was available, and I was a little less moved by the inclusion of Wayne Theibaud just because his visual treatment is so different.

Contact the gallery for a copy and get yours now. $30 bucks.


David Park, "Figures in a Landscape", 1953, oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 35 1/2 inches, courtesy of John Berggruen Gallery