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March 2 - Art - Extreme Abstraction 
Memoranda   Howard Devree
324

Article in N.Y. Times by Devree dated Sun. Feb. 20 bears notation - 
"The article - "Art: Extreme Abstraction' The anonymous aspect of some of the extreme abstraction which raises many questions & has grave implications for the future of our painting. For it has been the (avowed) contention of the more avowed partisans of abstract expressionism that the opposite is true - that this work reveals a very personal reaction to our time. The advances of science - the permeation of the new psychology since the doctrines of Freud became a part of general consciousness & the unease of the artist facing the confusions of a divided world have all been cited as factors in this new painting. The very personal subjective nature of the art has been stressed.

With the human figure & other representational elements wholly 


Extreme Abstraction  Wed. March 2
Memoranda  325

removed from the canvas, many painters have turned to color as expressive in itself. Shapes & the tensions between them or color relations, are put forward as sufficient in themselves.

One may group certain types of expression within the nonobjective field: symbols against primarily blank backgrounds; free floating color shapes; geometrical use of color forms; an all-over color organization derving [[deriving]] frequently from cubism; lyrical use of color frequently suggestive of landscape or marine themes; linear mazes from the 'drip' or automatic approach & so on. But within each of these groups the similarity is pronounced, the anonymity creeps in & the identity of the artist & what he has to say is lessened.

There are many kinds of