ABSTRACT
Abstraction, in one form or another, still commands the artistic allegiance of a large portion of the best talents. With few exceptions, it continues to inspire the largest ambitions. There is a greater emphasis on that element of unexpectedness that, in the right hands, is one of the surest sources of eloquence in the picture-making process. One is tempted to say that the exhibition marks a return to "handmade" painting—to painting in which the artist's hand plays a role equal to that of the artist's eye. The dream of an art of pure color from which drawing has been permanently expelled has haunted modern painting at least since the age of the Impressionists. Matisse lavished some of his most inspired energies on its realization, and lesser talents have taken up the cause with even greater fanaticism.
