Splatters, Drips, Tracings, and Horsehair

NEW YORK—Some of the most remarkable abstract painting of the 20th century was done in New York, so it's hardly news that there continues to be much of it on display here. But with the possibilities for contemporary art now so wide-ranging, it does come as some surprise—to me, at least—that so many artists continue to draw inspiration from the relatively narrow traditions of modernist abstraction.

Once I’d made up my mind that this would be my focus for these “Editor’s Picks,” I realized that this fall, shows of historical and contemporary abstraction are everywhere. There are more than I could mention, in fact, including a big show called “The Abstract Impulse” at the National Academy Museum and two separate de Kooning shows, one at the 21st Street Gagosian Gallery and the other at L & M Arts. In the shows that I did seek out, there were some really rather special experiences to be had, both in individual works and in the comparisons among abstraction’s various strands. One thing’s for certain: Abstraction continues to thrive and proliferate in the early 21st century.

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