Page 41 - Studio International - May 1970

3
Lambert Maria Wintersberger Oben `Spaltung' 1969
225 x 190 cm
4
Lothar Quinte Variable 6 1968 Acrylic/Lwd
200 x 270 cm
5
Ansgar Nierhoff Chairs 1969 wood/steel
6
Karl Pfahler Blau-Blau 1966-7 Acrylic/Lwd
130 x 110 cm
7
Thomas Lenk Schichtung 4 (Signal Spalte) 1964-5
Aluminium, partly coloured 150 x 70 cm
ones ? Francis Bacon isn't there, nor is Richard
Hamilton, nor is William Turnbull, nor are
Robyn Denny, Peter Blake and Phillip King,
to name only six major artists....
Q. Isn't this kind of narrowness of outlook
perhaps a sign of weakness or decline ? Some
people are saying that the great period of
American art—Pollock to Louis—is now over.
A. In such an enormous country, and with a
city as stimulating as New York, one must be
prepared for anything. But it is clear that the
concentration of artistic power is not as great
as it was. Young American artists have no
chance to let their ideas mature. It is horrifying
to go to New York and visit unknown, perhaps
very talented artists, who already think in
terms of astronomical prices; they are confi-
dent about their work in a way that would
never have been possible for the Abstract
Expressionists. The label 'Made in USA' seems
to place them above criticism. All they produce
is welcomed with open arms, notably by Ger-
man galleries. What is lacking in America
today is the process of maturation. We know
how long Pollock, Rothko and Kline took to
find their own artistic style. Perhaps it is a good
thing for German art that it is still possible for
an artist to mature gradually by continually
calling his own work into question, painting
against his own uncertainty. To what extent
Germans will grasp this opportunity is some-
thing we shall have to wait and see. q