National Gallery of Art-The Fifty-second A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock

The Fifty-second A. W. Mellon Lectures
in the Fine Arts

Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock

Kirk Varnedoe

To view the video you will need to have the QuickTime plug-in.

Audio (1:58 mins., MP3 2.27MB) | Transcript

This video segment is from Kirk Varnedoe's first A. W. Mellon Lecture, "Why Abstract Art?" delivered at the National Gallery of Art on March 30, 2003.

All six of Varnedoe's Mellon lectures are now available in book form, recently published as Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock by Princeton University Press in association with the National Gallery of Art (October 2006; vol. 48 in the Bollingen series) and on sale in the Gallery Shops. The book includes a foreword by Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery of Art, and a preface (PDF 155k) by Adam Gopnik, a regular essayist for The New Yorker; it was edited by Judy Metro, editor in chief of the National Gallery of Art.

Purchase

Purchase Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock

Read

Read the preface (PDF 155k) by Adam Gopnik, a regular essayist for The New Yorker and coauthor with Kirk Varnedoe of the exhibition catalogue High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture (1990).

Commemorative Lecture

Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand): Celebrating the Publication of Kirk Varnedoe's Mellon Lectures
December 16
noon
John Elderfield, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art
Press Materials

Kirk Varnedoe (1946–2003) was professor of art history at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, from 2001 until his death. From 1988 to 2001 he was chief curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and from 1980 to 1988 he was on the faculty of New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. He received his B.A. from Williams College (1967) and his M.A. (1970) and Ph.D. (1972) from Stanford University. During his graduate years he was awarded a David E. Finley Fellowship by the National Gallery of Art and spent time in residency at the Gallery as a fellow. He also taught at Columbia University from 1974 to 1980, and was the Slade Professor at Oxford University in 1992.

As a curator, Varnedoe organized major exhibitions for the Museum of Modern Art, including Matisse—Picasso in 2003, as well as other institutions. He was the author of eighteen books, focusing on many 19th-century topics and artists such as Gustave Caillebotte, Max Klinger, and Auguste Rodin (with Albert Elsen); later 19th-century Scandinavian art; and prominent twentieth-century artists like Jackson Pollock (with Pepe Karmel), Cy Twombly, and Jasper Johns. Other highly acclaimed publications include A Fine Disregard: What Makes Modern Art Modern (1990) and the exhibition catalogue (coauthored with Adam Gopnik) High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture (1990).

Professor Varnedoe was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, received the Royal Order of the Donnebroge from Denmark, and was awarded the title of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France. He was also the recipient of honorary degrees from Williams College and the Pratt Institute, and in 1984 he received a five-year MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.

	The Fifty-second A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock Kirk Varnedoe To view the video you will need to have the QuickTime plug-in. Audio (1:58 mins., MP3 2.27MB) \| Transcript This video segment is from Kirk Varnedoe's first A. W. Mellon Lecture, "Why Abstract Art?" delivered at the National Gallery of Art on March 30, 2003. All six of Varnedoe's Mellon lectures are now available in book form, recently published as Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock by Princeton University Press in association with the National Gallery of Art (October 2006; vol. 48 in the Bollingen series) and on sale in the Gallery Shops. The book includes a foreword by Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery of Art, and a preface (PDF 155k) by Adam Gopnik, a regular essayist for The New Yorker; it was edited by Judy Metro, editor in chief of the National Gallery of Art. Purchase Purchase Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock Read Read the preface (PDF 155k) by Adam Gopnik, a regular essayist for The New Yorker and coauthor with Kirk Varnedoe of the exhibition catalogue High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture (1990). Commemorative Lecture Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand): Celebrating the Publication of Kirk Varnedoe's Mellon Lectures December 16 noon John Elderfield, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art Press Materials Kirk Varnedoe (1946–2003) was professor of art history at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, from 2001 until his death. From 1988 to 2001 he was chief curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and from 1980 to 1988 he was on the faculty of New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. He received his B.A. from Williams College (1967) and his M.A. (1970) and Ph.D. (1972) from Stanford University. During his graduate years he was awarded a David E. Finley Fellowship by the National Gallery of Art and spent time in residency at the Gallery as a fellow. He also taught at Columbia University from 1974 to 1980, and was the Slade Professor at Oxford University in 1992. As a curator, Varnedoe organized major exhibitions for the Museum of Modern Art, including Matisse—Picasso in 2003, as well as other institutions. He was the author of eighteen books, focusing on many 19th-century topics and artists such as Gustave Caillebotte, Max Klinger, and Auguste Rodin (with Albert Elsen); later 19th-century Scandinavian art; and prominent twentieth-century artists like Jackson Pollock (with Pepe Karmel), Cy Twombly, and Jasper Johns. Other highly acclaimed publications include A Fine Disregard: What Makes Modern Art Modern (1990) and the exhibition catalogue (coauthored with Adam Gopnik) High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture (1990). Professor Varnedoe was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, received the Royal Order of the Donnebroge from Denmark, and was awarded the title of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France. He was also the recipient of honorary degrees from Williams College and the Pratt Institute, and in 1984 he received a five-year MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
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