cover image Jack Tworkov: Paintings 1928-1982

Jack Tworkov: Paintings 1928-1982

Richard Armstrong. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, $25 (168pp) ISBN 978-0-295-96499-7

Tworkov's long and pivotal career is documented in this excellent exhibition catalogue. Tworkov came of age in the art world of postwar New York, a period of extraordinary change in both modern art and the location of its most adventurous creative experiments. His works reflect the movement of American artists from the tentative, cubist-based quasi-representation of the early 1940s to abstract expressionism and its existentialist premise of ""acts and actors.'' Bringing together geometric rigor, the brushstrokewith its implicit ``gesture''and pure plastic paint, the final paintings of his life are compositions of deliberate thought and passionate searching. Essays by Baker and Armstrong analyze the works and provide a biographical sketch of the artist's life. Also included are excerpts from Tworkov's journals and photos of the artist at work. (September)