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Lot Essay
Strands of undulating lines stream toward oblong shapes and pinpoint dots in Lynne Drexler’s Spring Dance. The golden, organic mass at the center of the canvas extends outward against the encroaching, cool-toned greens, generating a pulsating energy at the periphery where warm and cool meet. Inspired by the teachings of Hans Hoffman and his concept of “push-pull”, which outlines the relationship between shades, Drexler’s dense patches of paint infuse her works with dynamic movement and depth.
As a fine arts student studying with Hans Hoffman and Robert Motherwell in the mid-1950s, Lynne Drexler attempted to establish herself in an art scene dominated by the second-generation of Abstract Expressionists. Drexler’s work was woefully overlooked, and she sought solace away from New York. Her practice evolved toward a more representational mode after visiting Monhegan, an island off the coast of Maine, on her honeymoon. Drexler began painting nature scenes from memory, recalling the seasons spent on the island and the respite offered by the lush natural world. She explores the boundary between abstraction and representation with her swatch-like brushwork and subtle gradients of color that capture nature in flux.
Following a bout of serious depression in the late 60s, Drexler began taking an antipsychotic that affected her perception of color and contrast. Painted after her sight began recovering, Spring Dance is a celebration of the burgeoning hues of spring in bloom, as the highlights emerge from the depths of the dark shadows. The present work is a manifestation of Drexler’s resiliency and life-long commitment to her practice and an ode to nature and the resurgence of new life and hope.
As a fine arts student studying with Hans Hoffman and Robert Motherwell in the mid-1950s, Lynne Drexler attempted to establish herself in an art scene dominated by the second-generation of Abstract Expressionists. Drexler’s work was woefully overlooked, and she sought solace away from New York. Her practice evolved toward a more representational mode after visiting Monhegan, an island off the coast of Maine, on her honeymoon. Drexler began painting nature scenes from memory, recalling the seasons spent on the island and the respite offered by the lush natural world. She explores the boundary between abstraction and representation with her swatch-like brushwork and subtle gradients of color that capture nature in flux.
Following a bout of serious depression in the late 60s, Drexler began taking an antipsychotic that affected her perception of color and contrast. Painted after her sight began recovering, Spring Dance is a celebration of the burgeoning hues of spring in bloom, as the highlights emerge from the depths of the dark shadows. The present work is a manifestation of Drexler’s resiliency and life-long commitment to her practice and an ode to nature and the resurgence of new life and hope.