At the exhibition “Norman Bluhm: A Retrospective of Works on Paper,” viewers will see a cache of never-before-exhibited work by the late artist. “For the first time the artist’s working sketchbooks are on display,” says Loretta Howard, owner of the exhibition’s original home, the Jacobson Howard Gallery in New York. Bluhm was known for his drippy paintings of everything from the geometrical to the anatomical. His sketchbooks illustrate his seesawing interests in both subject and medium. “He goes into abstraction, but he really comes out of it again based on the nude…so it becomes sort of full circle,” Howard says. “Then you look up at some of the really great big sheets of paper and you see those curves…and you say ‘ah-hah!’ It’s really so connected to this…classical way of working from the figure,” she says. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Through March 20. McClain Gallery, 2242 Richmond. For information, call 713-520-9988 or visit www.mcclaingallery.com. Free.
Wednesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Feb. 11. Continues through March 20, 2010
This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 3, 2010.