Viewing page 15 of 55

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

problems of painting. His work of the past twenty years reveals not only the enormous complexity of these problems but the great variety of ways in which he has tried to solve them. It is at the same time a body of work that is intensely powerful in emotional impact and always exciting to behold.

While a number of works in the exhibition date from the years between 1948 and 1962, the majority have been produced in the past decade. Emphasis on recent work was intentional here since the earlier paintings were so well reviewed in the Brooks retrospective exhibition held at the Whitney museum and at Brandeis University in the spring of 1962. In the catalogue essay of that exhibition Sam Hunter traced not only the roots of Brooks' art but thoroughly analyzed his mature work to that time. In looking back through the past ten years it is clear that the artist's work has continued to evolve along the lines established earlier but with certain added qualities which make it an even richer visual and emotional experience.

The major characteristics of James Brooks' painting has always been solid structure. From his early murals made for the WPA Federal Arts Project, through his post-war interest in cubism, and specially in the purely abstract paintings of the 1950's, the artist has consistently demonstrated a firm control of pictorial elements. No matter how bold the forms might be, how sharp the contrasts of light and dark, or how brilliant the color intensities, all were held in balance and carefully related to each other. One need only look at the black and white reproductions of his work to realize immediately that a strong and secure skeletal structure of line, mass, and value underlies his vibrant colorism. While the color contrasts and harmonies may carry much of the emotional impact of the painting, it is the precise manipulation of form and space, of light and dark, of texture and movement that sustains the initial impact and gives it substance. 

In the work of the past decade, changes in color and shapes have been matched by - perhaps even necessitated by - an increasingly simplified structuralism. Apparently seeking a more monumental unity, Brooks has substantially reduced the visual complexities of his painting. The freely expressive, almost nervous compositions of broken shapes common to the fifties gave way in the sixties to arrangements based on larger color areas. These were often balanced by smaller form of contrasting color or value and the whole dynamically enlivened by the use of strong linear elements. The latter were in some instances short, powerful lines or, in other cases, the hard edges of juxtaposed forms. While a quality of broadly brushed spontaneity is preserved in these works, the ultimate effect depends on a careful placement of each part to create a sense of equilibrium and control.

Color has changed noticeably in the last ten years also. A broadening of form has been accomplished by a wider chromatic range. In recent work particularly, subtle combinations of blues, greens, and ochres have replaced the relatively pure palette of black, white, and red that was so dominant in earlier paintings. Generally speaking, color is now more sensuous and lyrical, more vibrant and clear than in the fifties. Still maintaining a strong order of light-dark values within a painting, Brooks accomplishes this less by the use of black and white than by attention to the intrinsic value of each color as it is applied. Related to this is a greater us of transparent washes and overlays which are contrasted with areas of opaque color. The artist's shift from the use of oil paint to acrylic in 1966 may well have been responsible for these changes in palette and technique.

A richer colorism, a simplification of forms, and a more deliberate structure have given Brooks' recent work a new forcefulness. In both the large canvases and the works of small size that he continues to produce, there is a surety and, consequently, a monumentality that was missing earlier. While he maintains the sense of freshness that comes from applying the first layers of paint in an "autonomous" manner, these initial images are now developed into the finished work of art with greater finesse. The problems of controlling form in space while maintaining a consistent surface seem to grow ever more complicated with the enriched textures and intensified colorism. Bolder, more dramatic shapes are set in often startling contrast to linear elements or are subtly laid over each other within a close range of value. Scale is now delicately adjusted to heighten the impact of the image or to soften the forcefulness of strong color contrasts. In short, all the elements of painting are considered, manipulated, and given their proper place. Having lost none of the expressiveness or vitality of the earlier work, Brook's recent paintings have gained a quiet intensity that is even more potent. 

When he began to pain abstractly in 1948, James Brooks freed himself from the distraction of representational elements and opened the way to a concentration on the essential problems of painting. For almost twenty-five years he has sustained his pursuit of these problems with increased energy and clarity of purpose. As a result, his work has grown stronger in imagery and richer in meaning. Most importantly, it is a consistent and ever more exciting record of one painter's continuing effort to meet the endless challenges of his art.

Merrill C. Rueppel