Ben L. Culwell (American, 1918-1992). Untitled, 1953-54. Mixed media on Masonite. 29-1/2 x 24 inches (74.9 x 61.0 cm). S...

Description

Ben L. Culwell (American, 1918-1992)
Untitled, 1953-54
Mixed media on Masonite
29-1/2 x 24 inches (74.9 x 61.0 cm)
Signed and dated on the reverse: Ben Culwell / 1953-54

Texas artist Ben Culwell was part of the 1946 exhibition of "Fourteen Americans" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This seminal show also displayed the works of artists Robert Motherwell, Arshile Gorky, and Isamu Noguchi causing New Yorker art critic Robert Coates to coin the term "Abstract Expressionism." In the same article, Coates specifically points to Culwell's work as a particular example of the combination of Abstraction and Expressionism. Subsequent "American" exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Robert Rauschenberg and heralded the popularity of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Untitled, 1953-54 is a result of Culwell's continuing development of the painterly, abstract surface. Using a mixture of oil paint, enamel, and lacquer, he builds heavy layers of impasto with bits of gravel, glass, and other various objects for additional texture. His work has a three-dimensional quality which evokes relief paintings or modern sculpture.

More information about Ben L. Culwell. See also: Culwell, Ben L. Artist.

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