What is a Subject?: (Some notes on the paintings and milieu of Robert Goodnough.)

Fairfield Porter once remarked that it is the abstraction in representational paintings and the "subject matter" of abstract painting which should be of paramount concern to both painter and critic. In considering the work of Robert Goodnough over a 30-year period, this neat division of &q...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inArt journal (New York. 1960) Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 228 - 232
Main Author Myers, John Bernard
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, etc Taylor & Francis 01.03.1977
College Art Association of America
Subjects
Abstract art
Aesthetics
Art criticism
Colors
Cubism
Modern art
Paints
Representational art
Sculpture
Surrealism
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Summary:Fairfield Porter once remarked that it is the abstraction in representational paintings and the "subject matter" of abstract painting which should be of paramount concern to both painter and critic. In considering the work of Robert Goodnough over a 30-year period, this neat division of "abstract" versus "representational" becomes hopelessly mixed in the contradictions which emerge repeatedly as Goodnough moved from theme to theme - from total abstraction to forthright representation and back. Yet there is a truth in Porter's declaration: abstract painting lacking "subject" becomes a flaccid parody of other paintings. Indeed, there is little contemporary abstract art that exists on the highest level of seriousness. The temperament necessary for such seriousness is rare. How many artists combine individualism, intelligence, aesthetic cultivation with an indifference to the market, to fashion, to journalism? In fact, to society?
ISSN:0004-3249
2325-5307
DOI:10.1080/00043249.1977.10793356