Lecture on abstract expressionism Friday

CHAMPAIGN – The chief curator from a California art museum will deliver a lecture about abstract expressionism at 3 p.m. Friday in Room 62 of the Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Drive, C. Her topic: "West to East: Reconsidering the Exchange of Postwar Abstraction between San Francisco and New York."

Marcelle Polednik, chief curator at the Monterey Museum of Art, will focus on the dynamic decade of 1946-1956 by examining its four-part evolution: starting with the first definition of the abstract expressionist movement (1946); the emerging, formative period (1947-1949); the codification into an identifiable set of artistic concerns and practices (1950); maturation and then the subtle transformation into a figurative aesthetic (1951-1956).

Polednik will discuss several key artists such as Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Ad Reinhardt and Hans Hofmann, as well as lesser-known artists such as John Haley, Edward Corbett, Ernest Briggs and John Schueler. By tracing their movements, artistic evolutions and influence, she will reappraise the geographic and aesthetic boundaries of abstract expressionism. Her talk is free and open to the public.

Also on this date

• Carle clinic/hospital merger: The sale -- and the tax
• Urbana library offers home history online
• For 52 years, trans-Atlantic pen-pal friendship has thrived
• Good thing C-U forefathers knew to go green
• Sketches at exhibit honor Illinois' fallen heroes
• UI prof has unique perspective on genome
• Couple hits the Oregon trail – the two-wheeled way
• For businesswoman, creativity at heart of consulting
• Danville alderman to run for Black's seat
• Obituaries

» More