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Writings of Jack Tworkov, Mira BO O K REVIEWS THINKING THINGS THROUGH would have appreciated—in a book BY RICHARD KALINA so centered on biography—a chro- nology of the artist’s life.) The bulk of The Abstract Expressionists were so Tworkov’s published writing appeared in passionately engaged in talking about the 1950s. His most widely read article, art, so caught up in the joys of philoso- “The Wandering Soutine,” was printed in phizing and feuds, that it is not surpris- the November 1950 issue of Art News. ing many of them also wrote. Robert It established Soutine’s vital connec- Motherwell’s texts are probably the tion to the avant-garde American art of best known: he was the acknowl- the day. Soutine, who had died in 1943 edged (and at times resented) high while on the run from the Germans dur- theorist of the group. Ad Reinhardt’s ing the occupation of France, was held polemics are still in circulation, and up as both a stylistic and existential recent years have brought us collec- exemplar, an expressionistic innovator tions of reminiscence and musings by and deracinated exile living tenuously Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and on his nerve ends and genius. Philip Pavia. We can now add Jack Tworkov wrote several more pieces Tworkov (1900-1982) to the list. for Art News (the advanced art world’s Tworkov, articulate and well- journal of record in the ’50s), including educated, was thoroughly committed to a particularly perceptive and histori- putting his thoughts and feelings down cally erudite essay in May 1954. Titled on paper. (He received a BA in English “Flowers and Realism,” the article used The Extreme of from Columbia in 1923—a not incon- a large Wildenstein Gallery loan exhibi- the Middle: Writings of Jack Tworkov, siderable accomplishment for a young tion of flower paintings to analyze the ed. by Mira Schor, man who had emigrated to New York relative merits of 17th-century Dutch New Haven and London, from Poland when he was 13. He origi- and late 19th-century French flower Yale University Press, nally wished to be an author, and did painting and to explore how each dealt 2009; 478 pages, $45, not begin his art stud- with the possibilities as well as the ies until his graduation inherent limits of direct delineation. from college.) Tworkov Tworkov also contributed a number wrote continuously and of thematic pieces between 1958 felicitously—diaries and and 1960—on color, for example—to journals, letters, lecture Pavia’s artist-run and handsomely notes and a variety of produced journal, It Is. In addition, theoretical pieces from he participated in Art Digest’s 1953 the 1930s until just symposium “Is the French Avant- before his death. The Garde Overrated?” (where he didn’t Extreme of the Middle— directly answer the question) and Art a compendium edited in America’s 1978 “The Late Cézanne” by Mira Schor, an artist, (where he combined a sharply focused writer and lifelong friend technical analysis of Cézanne’s paint- of the Tworkov family— ing with a rather diffuse broadside was published by Yale against the in-your-face conceptual University Press this sum- and performance art of the day). Jack Tworkov: Still mer. In addition, a small Although Tworkov was not known to Life with Peaches and Magazine, 1929, but well-focused retro- be more than an occasional writer, he oil on canvas, 20 by spective of his art, organized by Jason had a reputation for being an espe- 24 inches. Estate of Andrew, the Tworkov Estate archivist cially thoughtful artist and teacher, Jack Tworkov. and curator, was held Aug. 13-Oct. 27 at so that when he did publish, his peers the UBS Art Gallery in New York. took the articles seriously. While a number of Tworkov’s essays Tworkov’s style in the published work appeared in print, The Extreme of the was in line with the somewhat over- Middle consists, for the most part, heated mode of the day—phrases like of unpublished writings. Schor has “to insure against the vulgar manipu- organized the texts in chronologically lations of a style, you must insure RICHARD KALINA ordered thematic sections. (She has against life itself,” which appeared in is a painter who writes done an excellent job handling such the Autumn 1958 edition of It Is, were about art. a large amount of material, but I still standard-issue Abstract Expressionist DECEMBER’09 ART IN AMERICA 41 B OOK REVIEWS rhetoric—but his diaries, journals and steadily, was highly responsible in all John Cage and Merce Cunningham, as letters (primarily to his family) were matters, and made a point of doing well as former students Jennifer Bartlett cleanly written, sharply observed and things right, whether it be preparing and Chuck Close. to the point. Within each of his cho- a canvas, repairing a table, or setting Tworkov’s equanimity was an essential sen formats Tworkov maintained a his thoughts in order for a lecture. He part of his personality, his art and his consistent style over the years—not remained happily married to his wife, philosophy. The book’s ironic title is apt; surprising, when we consider the Wally, for nearly 50 years; was a kind while Tworkov never held back on his man’s essential stability. and understanding father to his two art—he tried, in emulation of his hero, One of the original Abstract daughters, Helen and Hermine (the Cézanne, to inject it with the most feel- Expressionists—a WPA artist, a ing and visual intelligence it close friend and neighbor of Willem could hold—he nevertheless de Kooning, and a founding member profoundly distrusted excess. of the Eighth Street Club—Tworkov As he wrote in notes for a talk was respected as a painter, well at the Cleveland Museum in liked as a person and revered as a 1962, “Esthetics of the extreme teacher. Chair of Yale’s art depart- is invariably more appealing to ment for much of the ’60s, he also the artist of little native ability.” taught at Black Mountain, Columbia For Tworkov extreme work, and many other schools. He gar- particularly when it existed nered awards and grants, was given on the border of nonart, was museum and gallery shows, and at heart ideational—it sprang from thought, not from mak- ing—and therefore innately problematic. He wrote in his PART OF THE ORIGINAL journal in 1968: AB-EX GROUP, TWORKOV A conceptual work—one which fol- WAS RESPECTED lowed completely a predetermined AS A PAINTER, WELL course or design—as happens in LIKED AS A PERSON the fields of design, belongs essen- tially to theory and criticism and not AND REVERED AS A to art as such. TEACHER. I might be criticized for drawing too sharp a distinction between the words “art” and “design”—but that is precisely my intention. I am against extremes. Undoubtedly this is primarily a mat- sold his work for Above, Pink Mississippi, 1954, oil on canvas, ter of temperament simply. But I respectable prices. 60 by 54 inches. believe this stand can be defended For all of that, he Collection of the theoretically. For I call extreme that felt that he had Rockefeller University. which is not the necessary result of never managed to a work process but has its inception Left, Jack Tworkov at in a purely willed process to invent. rise, in terms of Black Mountain College, critical or financial summer 1952. Photo Tworkov’s feelings in this success, to the top Robert Rauschenberg. regard, although clearly stated © Robert Rauschenberg/ level of artists of his VAGA, New York. and heartfelt, must be seen generation. in a larger context. They are This rankled, but symptomatic of the working Tworkov was so artist’s perpetual quandary: involved in the world how does one adapt to of art and ideas, and changing conditions in the art kept so occupied world? It is easy, particularly not just by his work when you are operating at but by a circle of accomplished and painter Hermine Ford); and enjoyed a the margins, to be reflexively against the interesting colleagues and a supportive loving friendship with his artist sister, new, but for someone as ensconced family, that the grumblings about being Janice (known as Biala), and her hus- as Tworkov, things became much more “second rated,” as he referred to it in band, Daniel Brustlein, who was also conflicted and nuanced. It should be his journals, seem a bit pro forma. He a painter. Tworkov had many friends, noted that he wrote this entry while he might have been moody and withdrawn both old and young—a benefit of teach- was running the art department at Yale at times, as numerous diary entries ing—who pursued a wide variety of and was committed to dealing empa- attest, but he was never a serious artistic concerns. It might be expected thetically with young artists of all stripes. depressive, an alcoholic or a woman- that he would be close with his con- For Tworkov, the deeper question here izer, as were many of his peers. temporaries like de Kooning and Franz was: how do you treat art with a strong Tworkov was, in fact, a prime example Kline, but he was also good friends with conceptual basis (something you tem- of constancy: he worked hard and Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, peramentally oppose) when you admire 42 ART IN AMERICA DECEMBER’09 B OOK REVIEWS and respect artists who work in that in another entry, that he took issue quieter and more chromatically subtle arena—for example, John Cage? How with geometricizing the surface or work seemed to suit his meditative can you be doctrinaire when it is in the image, not with the mathemati- temperament.
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