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who were wholly committed to abstract painting.

The works exhibited at Finch start [[strikethrough]] from [[/strikethrough]] date 1950 at which time the artist was exploring spontaneity and autonomy of medium. Stain paintings, of historic importance in the American abstract art movement, was an invention of James Brooks, and is represented in the exhibition by three paintings. This is the artist's first major show in which 29 works on paper and 21 paintings, covering a period of almost 25 years, will be shown together disclosing the many paths that the artist explored in his quest for total abstraction and individuality of style. [[strikethrough]] These works on paper [[/strikethrough]] The drawings are extremely important in Brooks' oeuvre because they show [[strikethrough]] the spontaneity that the artist is always seeking [[/strikethrough]] his impulsive first thoughts and [[strikethrough]] those [[/strikethrough]] reveal the skeletal structure that appears over and over again in the paintings enhanced by bold forms and later fields of color. The works from the fifties and sixties show Brooks' experimentation with varying media in order to allow what the artist calls the "ego of the canvas" to do its own thing.

The later paintings show a simplification of forms, while retaining the [[crossed out]] strengths [[\crossed out]] lyricism and sensitivity that his work has always displayed, and Brooks emerges in the seventies as a colorist with a vitality and freshness that guarantees forever his place as a dean of American abstract art.

Simultaneously with the exhibition at Finch College Museum, the Martha Jackson Gallery will show James Brooks' paintings for 1974-75. When the exhibits close in New York, several 1974-75 paintings will be added to the Finch show which will then travel, first to East Hampton. The home of the artist where it will be shown at Guild Hall Museum, [[crossed out]] It [[\crossed out]] and will then tour the state of Michigan with stops at Flint Institute of Art, Grand Rapids Art Museum and Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum. Catalogues and photographs available.

Museum Hours 1-5PM Daily except Monday.