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| Larry Rivers Detail of "O'hara with Boots on", 1954, NY Times photos |
Larry Rivers (1923-2002) was an artist whose work falls between Abstract Expressionism and Pop art. Coming of age among jazz musicians and beat poets, Rivers is characterized as having a bold and frenetic personality. Perhaps due to his energy, it is difficult to easily summarize Rivers' body of work as it fits into many categories or sometimes none at all. He worked on large historical paintings that were in some ways a pastiche of the past, filmed television documentaries, painted groundbreaking still lifes of everyday objects, and completed a series of lithographs which included text by poet Frank O’hara. Additionally, Rivers painted nudes and portraits, made sculptures, acted in films and designed sets and costumes for opera. While his late paintings appear to me garish, flat and impersonal, his work from the 1950s is interesting and it is what I want to consider in this post.
In the 1950s, He had been a student of Hans Hoffman but abandoned a completely abstract style. Rivers being ahead of fashion, began to include figures and narrative into his paintings. A large painting entitled “George Washington crossing the Delaware” from 1953 is indicative of his work at this time. It is at once semi-abstract and semi-representational and thus difficult to describe. A comparison to DeKooning’s series of Women paintings completed at the same time is helpful.
DeKooning’s work is full of furious paint marks that seem to try to eradicate the figurative elements that keep popping up on the canvas. In this way, DeKooning was moving towards abstraction, trying to exorcise the figurative artistic training of his youth. However, Rivers’ work looks as if a fog that having not yet lifted obscures the visual tableau. It seems that at any moment the forms will become more clear and precise and certainly less abstract. It is interesting to note that the painting "George Washington Crossing the Delaware" was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York very soon after it was completed.
Rivers’ paintings of the 1950s often depicted his friend the poet Frank O’hara or his mother-in-law in the nude. These works are at the same time scrutinizing and intimate and harken back to an old tradition. In some he paints with only black and white while in others he paints with a limited palette reminiscent of past masters. He has a somewhat flattened style but through numerous brushstrokes he achieves volume. Perhaps it was a result of lack of training but his volumes are never exactingly specific. His work appears more sincere than accurate.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the paintings become looser and he develops a simpler style. In the past, this type of work would have been considered a sketch or an etude. However, it is one of the aspects of 20th century painting to take something not fully formed and consider it a finished work. They are not without charm but in many cases he uses the image as a foil for larger ideas about painting. He adds text alongside the image both as a playful descriptor as well as flattening decorative element. Later, perhaps out of an impulse for the simple, he moved into collage and then silk-screening. These works are no longer paintings but Rivers uses historical figures and narrative elements more freely. Away from the nude, Rivers was able to explore more theatrical scenarios. In some he uses everyday objects (such as flags or Camel cigarette packs) that resonated with Pop artists.
There are two fundamental problems of post-World War II American painting: how to show that painting figures is worthwhile and how to create a narrative work that resonates with viewers. This apparently is difficult to resolve, as there is always the issue of time intensive training. Moreover the problem is exacerbated by the lack of a fundamental uniting mythos.
Larry Rivers seems to have gotten at the problems outlined above in his own way by using a divide and conquer method. First he worked with the figure, painting from observation and then he worked with complicated narrative subjects by any means available. Unfortunately, it was a highly idiosyncratic method, too personal and difficult for younger artist to build upon. His contribution, however, was to Pop art and the symbols the artists used. In many ways, the ideas expressed in Pop art are the closest we, as a culture, come to having a shared set of beliefs.
In 2008, a major exhibition of works from Rivers’ early years, 1952-66, was held at Guild Hall in East Hampton. Follow the link to a good article about it:
http://www.hamptons.com/detail.php?articleID=455