Emerson Woelffer Retrospective

Emerson Woelffer (1914–2003) was a pioneer in the American Abstract Expressionist movement. This exhibition was the artist’s first retrospective and included works made between 1946 and 1962. Approximately 70 objects in a variety of mediums and techniques were displayed, including collage, oil on canvas, oil on paper and crayon. Art historian and critic Gerald Nordland wrote of Woelffer’s paintings in the exhibition’s catalogue: “For all of their richness of paint material, variety of surface and stroke, these paintings show a toughness, a remorseless refining process, an intense originality, and an honor that is in the proudest tradition of American art.” One of the exhibited works, Black and White (1959), is currently held in the collection of the Norton Simon Museum.