Modernism at the Jewish Museum in NYC

If I lived in New York City I would be very excited to see the new show at the Jewish Museum.  “Action/Abstraction: Pollock, De Kooning and American Art, 1940-1976″ looks like it’s a great study of the emergence of high Modernism and pays special attention to its champions and critics Harold Rosenberg and Clement Greenberg.  It’s hard to understand the art that comes after the fifties without understanding the atmosphere and production of Abstract Expressionist art.  I remember trying to explain to my brother why Jasper Johns “Flag” and “Map” were such a big deal at the time and having to backtrack to explain the critical theory of Greenberg and the work of the Ab/Ex heavyweights.  This show seems like it would be a great introduction.  The review from the New York Times brought it to my attention, click here to read it. Fortunately for us in the Midwest the show will travel to the St. Louis Art Museum (and the Albright-Knox, TX), close enough to Chicago for a trip.