ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM: Who were the Irascible 18?

The Irascible 18 wrote an open letter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1950 to denounce its conservatism. Adolph Gottlieb wrote it and was supported by Theodoros Stamos, Jimmy Ernst, Barnett Newman, James Brooks, Mark Rothko, Richard Pousette-Dart, William Baziotes, Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, Ad Reinhardt and Hedda Sterne among others. These 15 artists weren’t the only ones who signed the open letter, but they were the subjects of an iconic photograph made by Nina Leen. We’re going to look at each of them and, also, illustrate how little in common these artists have by explaining the difference between Action Painting and Color Field Painting. James. E. B. Breslin’s book: Videos on paintings mentioned or seen: Ben Shahn’s The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti: Marc