Art of Another Kind

Book excerpt: The pioneering artists of the post-World War II era embraced artistic freedom and gesture-based styles, nontraditional materials and countercultural references. French art critic Michel Tapié even declared the existence of "un art autre" (art of another kind)--an art that entailed a radical break with all traditional notions of order and composition, in a movement toward something wholly "other." This catalogue accompanies the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum exhibition Art of Another Kind: International Abstraction and the Guggenheim, 1949-1960, which especially highlights works that entered into the collection during the tenure of then-director James Johnson Sweeney. Featuring nearly 100 works by Carla Accardi, Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel, Martin Barré, Harry Bertoia, Louise Bourgeois, Alberto Burri, Sam Francis, Grace Hartigan, Asger Jorn, Yves Klein, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Conrad Marca-Relli, Kenzo Okada, Jorge Oteiza, Jackson Pollock, Ad Reinhardt, Pierre Soulages, Clyfford Still, Antoni Tàpies, Jean Tinguely, Cy Twombly, Takeo Yamaguchi and Zao Wou-Ki, among others, this collection-based exhibition and publication explore the affinities and differences between artists working continents apart, in a period of great transition and rapid creative development. The fully illustrated exhibition catalogue includes essays by Tracey Bashkoff, Megan M. Fontanella and Joan Marter; an illustrated chronology; and short biographies of the artists.