Americans in Paris | Artists Working in Postwar France, 1946–1962
Following World War II, hundreds of artists from the United States flocked to the City of Light, which for centuries had been heralded as an artistic mecca and international cultural capital. “Americans in Paris” explores a vibrant community of expatriates who lived in France for a year or more during the period from 1946 to 1962.
While the U.S. art scene was dominated by the rise of Abstract Expressionism, Americans working in Paris experimented with a range of formal strategies and various approaches to both abstraction and figuration.
Showcased here are some 130 paintings, sculptures, photographs, films, textiles, and works on paper by nearly 70 artists, providing a fresh perspective on a creative ferment too often overshadowed by the contemporaneous ascendency of the New York art scene.
Debra Bricker Balken, Lynn Gumpert, curators
Travelling exhibition: Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy: September 3, 2024–January 5, 2025; The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery: February 11 2025, –June 1, 2025