20th-Century Masters at Frieze New York 2024
Among thousands of pieces of groundbreaking contemporary art at Frieze New York, there are works by pioneers of the 20th century, including Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Clark and Gertrude Abercrombie
Among thousands of pieces of groundbreaking contemporary art at Frieze New York, there are works by pioneers of the 20th century, including Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Clark and Gertrude Abercrombie
Seung-taek Lee, Tied Knife, 1962–1970
Knife, rope, 6 x 82 x 48 cm. Presented by Gallery Hyundai. $50k–$100k
An icon of Korean 20th-century art, Seung-taek Lee’s “non-sculpture” consists of two bodies of work that still remain key to Lee’s practice to this day: the “bound” and “non-material” series. The “bound” series uses rope in order to create a visual paradox, contesting the nature, pupose and material meaning of familiar everyday objects, such as this gardening knife incomprehensibly constricted by a narrow red thread.
Gertrude Abercrombie, Seated Man, 1940
Oil on canvas. 54.61 x 65.41 cm. Presented by Karma. $100k–$250k
Gertrude Abercrombie was a critical, under-considered fixture of mid-century American surrealism. A champion of the Chicago jazz scene, Abercrombie was known as “queen of the bohemian artists” and “the other Gertrude” (as opposed to Gertrude Stein). Her dreamscapes, still lifes and self-portraits feature a visual lexicon of the everyday: shells, eggs, black cats, doors, bowls of fruit, Victorian furniture, and moonlit landscapes, as seen in Seated Man (1940).
“Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World Is a Mystery,” will be on view at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, January 18–June 1, 2025.
Ed Clark Ying and Yang, 1989
Acrylic on canvas, 132.7 x 168 cm. Presented by White Cube. Price on application
Born in New Orleans in 1926 and raised in Chicago, Ed Clark emerged in the 1950s as a pioneer of the New York School. Over the course of seven decades, his experimentations with pure color, abstract form, and the physical materiality of paint (dramtically demonstrated in Ying and Yang, 1989) have produced work of remarkable originality, profoundly extending the language of American abstraction.
Leo Valledor, Straight & Still, 1982
Acrylic on shaped canvas, 274.32 x 121.92 cm. Presented by Silverlens. Price on application
Valledor’s work displays some principles of color-field minimalism but develops it through a distinctive use of shape and space. His works evoke the livery of planes and trains, the impact of billboards and neon signage. In particlaur, his shaped canvases (such as Straight & Still, 1982) challenge the flat surface of the paint to create a sense of volume within the pictorial space.
Robert Rauschenberg, Copperhead-Bite XII / ROCI CHILE, 1985
Silkscreen ink and tarnish on copper, 245.8 × 124 × 4 cm. Presented by Thaddaeus Ropac
Robert Rauschenberg’s “Copperhead-Bites” series reflect the conditions faced by the people he encountered in Augusto Pinochet’s Chile during a research trip he took there in 1984, many of whom worked in copper mines. An exhibition dedicated to Rauschenberg’s ROCI project will be on view at Thaddaeus Ropac London until June 15, 2024, offering an unprecedented insight into one of the most ambitious and wide-ranging artistic interchanges of the late-20th century.
About Frieze Viewing Room
Open to all from April 24–May 10, Frieze Viewing Room is the online catalog for the fair that gives global audiences access to gallery presentations coming to Frieze New York 2024. Visitors can search artworks by artist, price, date and medium, save favorite artworks and presentations, chat with galleries and much more.
Further Information
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Frieze New York is supported by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing over two decades of a shared commitment to artistic excellence.
Main image: Ed Clark, Ying and Yang, 1989. Acrylic on canvas, 132.7 x 168 cm. Courtesy White Cube
