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undetermined point the subject becomes the object existing independently as a painting." In the Summer of 1947 in Maine, quite by accident the stains that occurred on the reverse side of a painting on thin linen when Brooks glued paper on top of the painting, came through the linen in interesting shapes which influenced him in his series of stain paintings (lyrical abstraction, it is now called). These strange accidents on the surface forced him into a new inventive style. Examples included in this exhibition are: "J", 1952, lent by the Whitney Museum of American Art; "R", 1953, lent by the Chase Manhattan Bank; and "G", 1953, lent by the Martha Jackson Gallery.

His first one man show in 1949 at the Peridot Gallery included some pieces obviously affected by Jackson Pollock's drip painting, although more controlled. Some contained hints of the cubist's grid. The evolution from earlier styles and interests is clear, rather than any sudden adoption of an unrelated approach. His interest in abstract expressionism continued to dominate his work, by now distinguished by color refinements reminiscent of oriental art when coupled with understated masses. Transient form and vibrant color became key points until the end of 1952. By then Brooks had begun a more direct and dramatic expression. In "J", monochromes, not vivid colors, were used and his forms became more assertive. His "No. 3" brought Willem de Kooning to mind with full forms and vivid colors. For a number of years Brooks had two alternating color groups: browns, grays and blacks or strong colors. Then experimentation and improvisation again became dominant resulting in many examples of technique but no definite adoption of a single style. Brooks continued his experimentation in a variety of forms and media with an interesting interplay between them but with no primary or dominant method developing. He tried thin paints, gouache, bright colors, paints over various backgrounds including crayon. The net result of the experimentation was a clear demonstration that Brooks had reached a point where, by a variety