This is the second in a series of three chronological volumes tracing the groundbreaking innovations and achievements in the medium of drawing over the last 125 years through MoMA's unparalleled holdings. Examining masterworks from the Museum's collection of more than 7,000 works on paper beginning in the 1880s and continuing through today, these books reconsider artists' repudiation of traditional drafting methods, their assault on the use of the single sheet of paper, and the introduction of new materials. The three volumes showcase new formal strategies—including collage, abstraction, chance, and the integration of text and image—and new subject matter, including the urban experience, the body, and identity. 

Visual art in the period following World War II witnessed enormous transformations. Drawing provides a powerful and vigorous device for reexamining the spirit and achievements of the postwar era—for renewing appreciation of the extraordinary achievements of well-known artists and for discovering others. Despite the radical departures and shifts in the art of these years, drawing, among the most traditional of mediums, played a crucial role in the work of many of the most significant artists. 

 

This second volume spans the period from 1945 to 1975 and includes works by Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Joseph Beuys, Lee Bontecou, Louise Bourgeois, Vija Celmins, Bruce Conner, Ray Johnson, Jim Nutt and Myron Stout, and many others. 224 pp. 165 illus.