Peter Selz (45 page)
Authors: Paul J. Karlstrom
61.
Author's e-mail exchanges and phone conversation in April 2008 with Sabine Rewald at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The impression she gave was that the Minneapolis show and catalogue, and Peter Selz, simply fell between the cracks.
62.
Robert Hughes, “The Twenties' Bleak New World,”
Time
, 10 November 1980, 90â92.
63.
Ariel is the widow of Tom Parkinson, University of California “beat” poetry scholar and author of the first book on the beats.
64.
Alphonse Berber Gallery, Berkeley, 4 December 2009â30 January 2010. Exhibition catalogue essays by Peter Selz and Cameron Jackson.
65.
Interview with Ariel Parkinson, Berkeley, 22 August 2007, 3, 17. Ariel's quotes reflect amendments and additions returned 9 October 2010 with her review of quotes.
66.
Ibid., 22.
67.
Telephone conversation with Gabrielle Selz, 4 December 2009.
68.
Kevan Jenson, e-mail to author, 4 January 2010.
69.
Ursula O'Farrell, e-mail to author, 12 January 2010. O'Farrell is currently represented by Toomy Tourell Fine Art in San Francisco.
70.
Lorna Price Dittmer, e-mail to author, 6 January 2010.
71.
Kyra Baldwin, e-mail to author, 4 January 2010.
10. A CONCLUSION
1.
Warhol Live
was on view 14 Februaryâ17 May 2009, and
William Kentridge: Five Themes
, 14 Marchâ31 May 2009. Selz viewed the Warhol retrospective
in a single visit; he returned to the Kentridge four times. The fifth visit was the occasion for an interview.
2.
Leah Ollman, “William Kentridge: Ghosts and Erasures,”
Art in America
, January 1999, 71.
3.
Author interview with Peter Selz, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 25 May 2009, 1â2.
4.
Ibid., 3â4.
5.
Ibid., 4.
6.
For instance, MoMA had recently lost its role in selecting American representation at the Venice Biennale; in 1964, Alan Solomon had been installed as the official. Some critics charged that art dealer Leo Castelli engineered the appointment of Solomon, thus ensuring that Robert Rauschenberg won the Grand Prize. The point is that Castelli cut MoMA out of the action. There were hard feelings, as conveyed by Solomon in a letter to Castelli: “Peter Selz . . . was full of sour grapes and nasty as usual. . . . He told me that the gossip in New York was that Seitz did not accept [the invitation to the jury] because the telegram of invitation was signed by you. . . . Barr told me the same thing. . . . I suppose a lot of this is attributable to the frustration and annoyance of the MoMA people” (Alan Solomon to Leo Castelli, 3 August 1964, Alan Solomon Papers, Jewish Museum Archives; quoted in Annie Cohen-Solal,
Leo and His Circle
[New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010], 301â2). In contrast, Peter in his interviews gives himself some credit for Rauschenberg's controversial achievement on behalf of the new American art.
7.
Victor Bockris,
The Life and Death of Andy Warhol
(New York: Bantam Books, 1989), 117. This account could well be apocryphal, but it suggests the changes under way in the early 1960s that were already undercutting MoMA's previously unchallenged authority.
8.
Among the recent revisionist articles is David Wallace-Wells, “Andy Warhol: Factory Man,”
Newsweek
, 14 December 2009, 66â68. A more thoughtful and nuanced examination of Warhol's position appears in Louis Menand's “Top of the Pops: Did Andy Warhol Change Everything?”
New Yorker
, 11 January 2010, 56â65. Richard Dorment, in “What Is an Andy Warhol?”
New York Review of Books
, 22 October 2009, 14, 16â17, addresses the issue of originality. The most recent reappraisal appears in “The Warhol of Our Minds” by Eleanor Heartney, a perceptive review of three new Warhol books by Arthur Danto, Gary Indiana, and Tony Scherman and David Dalton, in
Art in America
(available online at
www.artinamericamagazine.com/books/the-warhol-of-our-minds
).
The following selected bibliography and exhibition history have been compiled by Jeff Gunderson, longtime librarian at the San Francisco Art Institute, the intended repository for the Peter Selz library. Gunderson worked closely with the author of this book, along with Selz himself, in setting up the guidelines for inclusion. For a full bibliography of articles, essays, books, and catalogues by Peter Selz, as well as a complete list of exhibitions for which he was curator, see
www.ucpress.edu/go/peterselz
.
The lists presented here demonstrate Selz's wide range of interests and expertise, as well as his advocacy for fine artists and his belief that art can be a fitting vehicle for social and political commentary. For the two bibliographic sections, “Books and Catalogues” and “Journal Articles and Essays,” the selection of titles was made on the basis of their significance and the contribution that they represent. Although Selz has been involved in and responsible for numerous exhibition-related publications, the extent of his involvement in these catalogues has varied widely. Those listed here (and indicated
by an asterisk) are for the projects in which he took the lead authorial role, whatever his position in conceiving or producing the accompanying exhibition. Selz wrote a great number of magazine articles and reviews as well, many of them as West Coast correspondent for
Art in America
. With few exceptions, the regional exhibition reviews are not included. On the other hand, independent articles that represent the development and application of his thinking about modernist art are cited. In this section, too, exhibition catalogues are indicated by an asterisk.
Over an extensive career, Peter Selz has been responsible for a long list of innovative and challenging exhibitions, many outside the “mainstream” of modern and contemporary focus. Again, the selection listed here is based on the importance of the exhibitions and the role Selz played in conceiving and realizing them.
BOOKS AND CATALOGUES
Elsen, Albert Edward, Peter Selz, Joseph Masheck, and Debra Bricker Balken. 1996.
Dimitri Hadzi
. New York: Hudson Hills Press.
Selz, Peter. 1957.
German Expressionist Painting
. Berkeley: University of California Press.
*âââ. 1958.
Stieglitz Circle: Demuth, Dove, Hartley, Marin, O'Keeffe, Weber
. Claremont, Calif.: Pomona College Galleries.
*âââ. 1959.
New Images of Man
. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
*âââ. 1960.
Sculpture and Painting by Peter Voulkos: New Talent in the Penthouse
. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
*Selz, Peter, and Mildred Constantine. 1960.
Art Nouveau: Art and Design at the Turn of the Century
. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
*Selz, Peter. 1961a.
15 Polish Painters
. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
*âââ. 1961b.
Mark Rothko
. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
*âââ. 1962.
The Work of Jean Dubuffet
. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
*âââ. 1963.
Emil Nolde
. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
*âââ. 1964.
Max Beckmann
. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
*âââ. 1965.
Reva Urban
. New York: Grippi & Waddell-Gallery.
*âââ. 1966a.
Directions in Kinetic Sculpture
. Berkeley: University Art Museum.
*âââ. 1966b.
Seven Decades, 1895â1965: Crosscurrents in Modern Art
. New York: New York Graphic Society and New York Public Education Association.
*âââ. 1967.
Funk
. Berkeley: University Art Museum.
*âââ. 1968.
Eduardo Paolozzi: Print Retrospective
. Berkeley: Worth Ryder Art Gallery.
*âââ. 1970.
Pol
Bury
. Berkeley: University Art Museum.
*âââ. 1972a.
Ferdinand Hodler
. Berkeley: University Art Museum.
*âââ. 1972b.
Harold Paris: The California Years
. Berkeley: University Art Museum.
âââ. 1975.
Sam Francis
. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
*Selz, Peter, and Thomas Blaisdell. 1976.
The American Presidency in Political Cartoons, 1776â1976
. Berkeley: University Art Museum.
*Selz, Peter. 1979.
2 Jahre amerikanische Malerei
. Zurich: Städtische Kunsthalle.
*Selz, Peter, and Dore Ashton. 1979.
Peinture américaine, 1920â1940
. Brussels: Palais des Beaux-Arts.
Selz, Peter. 1981.
Art in Our Times: A Pictorial History, 1890â1980
. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and Harry N. Abrams.
âââ. 1985a.
Art in a Turbulent Era
. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press.
*âââ. 1985b.
Rupert Garcia
. San Francisco: Harcourts Gallery.
âââ. 1986.
Chillida
. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
*âââ. 1991a.
Hans Burkhardt: Desert Storms
. Los Angeles: Jack Rutberg Fine Arts.
*âââ. 1991b.
Sam Francis: Blue Balls
. New York: Gagosian Gallery.
*âââ. 1992.
Max Beckmann: The Self-Portraits
. New York: Gagosian Gallery.
âââ. 1996.
Max Beckmann
. New York: Abbeville Press.
âââ. 1997a.
Beyond the Mainstream: Essays on Modern and Contemporary Art
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Selz, Peter, Dore Ashton, and Michael Brenson. 1997.
Tobi Kahn: Metamorphoses
. Lee, Mass.: Council for Creative Projects.
*Selz, Peter. 1998.
John Grillo: The San Francisco Years
. Mill Valley, Calif.: Robert Green Fine Arts.
*Selz, Peter, and Annette Vogel. 1998.
Max Beckmann: Das Graphische Werk
. New York: Serge Sabarsky, Inc.
*Selz, Peter. 1999.
Spaces of Nature
. Richmond, Calif.: Richmond Art Center.
Selz, Peter, and Anthony Janson. 1999.
Barbara Chase-Riboud: Sculptor
. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
*Selz, Peter. 2001.
Marsden Hartley: Observation and Intuition
. San Francisco: Hackett-Freedman Gallery.
*âââ. 2002a.
Hassel Smith: 55 Years of Painting
. Santa Rosa, Calif.: Sonoma County Museum.
*âââ. 2002b.
Nathan Oliveira
. Berkeley: University of California Press.
âââ. 2003.
Lyonel Feininger: 20 Watercolors
. Lancaster, Pa.: Demuth Foundation.
*âââ. 2005.
George Grosz: His Visual and Theatrical Politics
. New York: Moeller Fine Art.
*âââ. 2006.
Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond
. Berkeley: University of California Press.
*âââ. 2007.
Robert Colescott: Troubled Goods, a Ten Year Survey (1997â2007)
. San Francisco: Meridian Gallery.
*âââ. 2008a.
Jess: Paintings and Paste-Ups
. New York: Tibor de Nagy Gallery.
*âââ. 2008b.
Kevan Jenson: Paintings, Drawings, and Photograms
. San Francisco: Meridian Gallery.
*Selz, Peter, Alicia Haber, and Tonino Sicoli. 2008.
Bruce Hasson
. San Francisco: Meridian Gallery.
*Selz, Peter. 2010a.
Botero in L.A.: Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture
. Los Angeles: Tasende Gallery.
*âââ. 2010b.
Rudolf Bauer: Works on Paper
. San Francisco: Weinstein Gallery.
*âââ. 2010c.
The Visionary Art of Morris Graves
. San Francisco: Meridian Gallery.
Stiles, Kristine, and Peter Selz, eds. 1996.
Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings
. Berkeley: University of California Press.
JOURNAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS
Bear, Donald, and Peter Selz. 1956. “Painting.” In
Encyclopaedia Britannica
, 14th ed., vol. 17, 37â66.
Malone, Patrick T., and Peter Selz. 1955. “Is There a New Chicago School?”
Art News
54 (October): 36â39, 58â59.
Selz, Peter. 1951. “Younger French Painters of Today.”
College Art Journal
11: 10â17.
âââ. 1956. “A New Imagery in American Painting.”
College Art Journal
15: 290â301.
âââ. 1957. “The Aesthetic Theories of Wassily Kandinsky and Their Relationship to the Origin of NonObjective Painting.”
Art Bulletin
39 (June): 127â36.
âââ. 1963a. “The Flaccid Art.”
Partisan Review
30 (Summer): 313â16.
âââ. 1963b. “John
Heartfield's Photomontages.”
Massachusetts Review
(Winter): 309â36.
Selz, Peter, Henry Geldzahler, Hilton Kramer, Dore Ashton, Leo Steinberg, and Stanley Kunitz. 1963. “A Symposium on Pop Art.”
Arts
37 (April): 36â45.
Selz, Peter. 1967a. “The Berkeley Symposium of Kinetic Sculpture.”
Art and Artists
[London] 1 (February): 26â37.
*âââ. 1967b. “Notes on
Genesis
.” In
Rico Lebrun
, 55â61. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
âââ, intro. 1968a. “Fauvism and Expressionism: The Creative Intuition” and
“Art and Politics: The Art of Social Order.” In Herschel Chipp,
Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics
, 124â92, 456â500. Berkeley: University of California Press.
âââ. 1968b. “The Hippie Poster.”
Graphis
24, no. 135: 70â77, 91â92.
âââ. 1968c. “The Influence of Cubism and Orphism on the Blue Rider.” In
Festschrift Ulrich Middeldorf
, 582â90. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
*âââ. 1969. “The Precision of Fantasy.” In
Lyonel Feininger
. New York: Marlborough-Gerson Gallery.
âââ. 1974. “The Artist as Dactylographer.”
Art in America
62 (July/August): 98â99.
âââ. 1975. “Agnes Denes: The Visual Presentation of Meaning.”
Art in America
63 (March/April): 72â74.
âââ. 1976a. “Foreword.” In Paul Von Blum,
The Art of Social Conscience
, ixâx. New York: Universe Books.
âââ. 1976b. “The Genesis of
Genesis
.”
Archives of American Art Journal
16, no. 3: 2â7.
âââ. 1978. “Helen and Newton Harrison: Art as Survival Instruction.”
Arts
52 (February): 130â31.
*âââ. 1980. “The Artist as Social Critic.” In
German Realism of the Twenties: The Artist as Social Critic
, 29â40. Minneapolis: Institute of Arts.
*âââ. 1981. “Max Beckmann, 1933â1950: Zur Deutung der Triptychen.” In
Max Beckmann: Die Triptychen im Städel
, 14â33. Frankfurt: Städelsches Kunstinstitut.
*âââ. 1984. “Max Beckmann: Die Jahre in Amerika.” In
Max Beckmann: Retrospective
, 159â72. St. Louis: The [St. Louis Art] Museum, in association with Prestel-Verlag, Munich.
âââ. 1985. “Surrealism and the Chicago Imagists of the 1950s: A Comparison and Contrast.”
Art Journal
45 (Winter): 303â6.
âââ. 1986. “Bedri Baykam: American Xenophobia and Expressionist Drama.”
Arts
61 (November): 19â21.
âââ. 1987a. “The Eduardo Chillida Symposium.”
Arts
61 (January): 18â21.
âââ. 1987b. “Rupert Garcia: The Moral Fervor of Painting and Its Subjects.”
Arts
61 (April): 50â53.
âââ. 1988. “The Rosenbergs and Postwar Social Protest Art.” In
The Rosenbergs: Collected Visions of Artists and Writers
, ed. Rob A. Okun, 82â84. New York: Universe Books.
âââ. 1989a. “Mice, Temples, Audience: An Interview with Gu Wenda.”
Arts
64 (September): 36â40.
*âââ. 1989b. “Revival and Survival of Expressionist Trends in the Art of the GDR.” In
Twelve Artists from the German Democratic Republic
, 24â40. Cambridge, Mass.: Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University.
âââ. 1990. “Experienza
del Transcendente in Barnett Newman e Mark Rothko.” In
Quaderni di The Foundation for Improving the Understanding of the Arts
, 13â19. Milan: Jaca Book.
âââ. 1991. “Rupert Garcia: The Artist as Advocate.”
Artspace
15 (March/April): 60â62.
*âââ. 1992a. “The Artist as Universalist.” In
Agnes Denes
, 147â54. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
âââ. 1992b. “Grisha Bruskin: L'oeuvre unique.”
Cimaise
39 (September/October): 33â48.
âââ. 1992c. “William Congdon: Cinque decenni di pittura.” In Peter Selz, Fred Licht, and Rodolfo Balzarotti,
Congdon: una Vita
, 61â106. Milan: Jaca Book.
âââ. 1993. “Americans Abroad.” In
American Art in the 20th Century: Painting and Sculpture, 1913â1993
, ed. Christos M. Joachimides, Norman Rosenthal, and David Anfam, 177â85. Munich: Prestel.
âââ. 1996a. “The Impact from Abroad: Foreign Guests and Visitors.” In
On the Edge of America: California Modernist Art, 1900â1950
, ed. Paul Karlstrom, 96â119. Berkeley: University of California Press.
*âââ. 1996b. “Richard Lindner's Armored Women.” In
Richard Lindner
, 5â8. Washington, D.C.: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
*âââ. 1997a. “Helnwein: The Artist as Provocateur.” In
Gottfried Helnwein
, 11â98
. St. Petersburg, Russia: State Russian Museum; Ludwig Museum, Palace edition.
*âââ. 1997b. “John Altoon Reconsidered.” In
John Altoon
, 12â13. San Diego: Museum of Contemporary Art.
*âââ. 1998. “Lyonel Feiningers Rückkehr nach Amerika.” In
Lyonel Feininger: Von Gelmeroda nach Manhattan, Retrospektive der Gemälde
. ed. Roland März, 347â54. Berlin: Neue Nationalgalerie.
*âââ. 1999. “Modern Odysseys: A First Generation of Greek American Artists.” In Katerina Koskina, Peter Pappas, Peter Selz, Thalia Cheronis Selz, and William Valerio,
Modern Odysseys: Greek American Artists of the 20th Century
. New York: Queens Museum of Art.
âââ. 2001a. “Giacomo Manzu and His Portals of St. Peter's.”
Sculpture
20 (December): 32â37.
âââ. 2001b. “Morris Graves.”
Sculpture
20 (June): 63â65.
âââ. 2002. “Stephen de Staebler.”
Sculpture
21 (May): 24â27.
âââ. 2004. “David Ireland: The Alchemist.”
Art in America
92 (December): 124â27.
*âââ. 2006. “Aquarelle aus Feiningers amerikanischer Zeit.” In Ingrid Mossinger and Harald Loebermann,
Lyonel Feininger: Zeichnung, Aquarell, Druckgrafik
, 219â34. Munich: Prestel.
âââ. 2007a. “Alexander Calder.”
Sculpture
26 (March): 71â72.
âââ. 2007b. “The
Persistence of Suffering [Jerome Witkin].”
Art in America
95 (March): 160â64, 189.
*âââ. 2009. “Gustav Klimt: A Vanished Golden Age.” In Jane Kallir and Alfred Weidinger,
Gustav Klimt: In Search of the “Total Artwork,”
15â19. Munich: Prestel.
âââ. 2010a. “Foreword.” In
Word on the Street: Photographs by Richard Nagler
, 1â7. Berkeley: Heyday Books.
âââ. 2010b. “Irving Petlin: The Committed Brushstroke.”
Art in America
98 (March): 106â15.
*âââ. 2010c. “Jordi Alcaraz: Expanding the Legacy.” In
Jordi Alcaraz
, 101â27. Barcelona: Galeria Nievez Fernandez.
*âââ. 2010d. “Remembering Serge.” In Renee Price,
From Klimt to Klee
, 18â20. New York: Neue Galerie.
âââ. 2011. “A Brief History of Abstract Painting.” In
Framing Abstraction: Mark, Symbol, Signifier
. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Municipal Gallery.