cover image The Stamp of Impulse

The Stamp of Impulse

David Acton. Hudson Hills Press, $65 (296pp) ISBN 978-1-55595-213-6

Though abstract expressionists made a cult of drip and brushstroke, many of them also created beautiful, strange and energetic prints. A spectacular accompaniment to an exhibit at the Worcester (Mass.) Museum of Art, The Stamp of Impulse: Abstract Expressionist Prints presents 100 such prints from dozens of artists, among them De Kooning, Frankenthaler, Gottlieb and Kline. Curator David Acton not only introduces the collection but writes at length about each print. Composer David Amram and poet-critic David Lehman add essays about these artists' links to music and poetry. 109 color plates, 43 b&w. (Oct.)