For the 20th episode of "Reading the Art World," host Megan Fox Kelly speaks with Susan Davidson, author of “Robert Motherwell: Pure Painting,” published in August by Hatje Cantz.
Susan’s work is an in-depth study of the renowned Abstract Expressionist known as a deeply intellectual painter, brilliant theorist and articulate spokesman for the movement alongside Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock. The book accompanies the exhibition Susan curated of Motherwell's painting at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth this summer. From October 12th through January 14th, 2024, you can see the show in Vienna at the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien. Contributing writers to “Robert Motherwell: Pure Painting” are Jennifer Cohen, Simon Kelly, Monica McTighe and Sarah Rich.
As an art historian and curator, Susan Davidson is an authority in the fields of surrealism, abstract expressionism and pop art. In her previous role as senior curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Susan oversaw the stewardship of the institution's collection, in addition to organizing notable exhibitions that include Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, John Chamberlain, Jackson Pollock's Paintings on Paper and Peggy and Kiesler: The Collector and the Visionary.
Previously, Susan was collections curator at The Menil Collection in Houston. She served as the curatorial advisor to Robert Rauschenberg and a board member to the Rauschenberg Foundation, and her numerous exhibitions and publications on Rauschenberg include exhibitions at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the 2016 retrospective at the Tate Modern in London and MoMA in New York, and with Walter Hopps, the definitive Robert Rauschenberg retrospective for the Guggenheim.
Susan holds advanced degrees in art history from the Courtauld Institute London and George Washington University in Washington, DC.
"Reading the Art World" is a live interview and podcast series with leading art world authors hosted by art advisor Megan Fox Kelly. The conversations explore timely subjects in the world of art, design, architecture, artists and the art market, and are an opportunity to engage further with the minds behind these insightful new publications.
Megan Fox Kelly is an art advisor and past President of the Association of Professional Art Advisors who works with collectors, estates and foundations.
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Purchase "Robert Motherwell: Pure Painting" at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and at Hatje Cantz
Music composed by Bob Golden.