Reconsidering Barnett Newman

In April 2002 the Philadelphia Museum of Art held a symposium in conjunction with a major retrospective of the work of Barnett Newman (1905–1970). This volume publishes the proceedings of the event. With contributions from notable specialists in the field, including art historians, museum curators, critics, conservators, and fellow artists, the book pays homage to Newman and sheds new light on his work as a theoretician and innovator.

The essays collected inRediscovering Barnett Newman discuss the artist’s famous “zip,” his late series of paintings “The Stations of the Cross,” the temporal aspect of his works, his painting technique, and his sculptural oeuvre, among other topics. As a whole, this wide-ranging collection provides new perspectives on one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists, whose work continues to inspire and to speak to contemporary audiences.