BADEN-BADEN.- Art lovers are invited to immerse themselves in the dazzling world of Richard Pousette-Dart, a foundational figure of American Abstract Expressionism, as the Museum Frieder Burda opens its doors to "Poetry of Light." This landmark exhibition marks the largest showcase of Pousette-Dart's work ever presented outside the United States, offering a rare glimpse into the mind and creations of a true pioneer.

Spanning over six decades of his prolific career, the exhibition features an impressive array of 137 loans from 17 international collections. Visitors will encounter Pousette-Dart’s powerful paintings, intricate sculptures, unique objects, evocative drawings, and compelling photographs, including many from private collections that are typically unseen by the public. Among the highlights are monumental Abstract Expressionist masterpieces loaned by prestigious institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Art as "Asymmetrical, Uncalculable, Impulsive Kaleidoscope"

Pousette-Dart himself offered a poetic definition of his craft: "For me, art is the sky that ceaselessly opens, like an asymmetrical, incalculable, impulsive kaleidoscope. Art is magic, it is joy, with gardens full of surprises and wonders. Art is energy, impulse. It is question and answer. It is transcendental reason. It is holistic in its spirit." This sentiment, expressed in 1951, perfectly encapsulates the boundless and intuitive nature of his work.

Alongside renowned contemporaries like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, Pousette-Dart played a pivotal role in shaping the New York School, which spearheaded the global movement of free abstraction in the 1940s. Like many of his peers, he explored deep themes of myth, ancient forms, and spirituality. His early works reveal an engagement with European painting of the interwar period, before he moved towards the expansive, color-rich "all-over" compositions that captivated viewers from the 1960s onward.

A Legacy Forged in Freedom and Experimentation

Pousette-Dart's artistic journey was deeply influenced by his progressive upbringing. His mother, Flora, was a fierce feminist, poet, and writer whose activism championed gender equality, socialism, and welfare. His father, Nathaniel, also an artist, encouraged young Richard's early experiments with drawing and painting. As editor of Art and Artists of Today, Nathaniel was a strong advocate for artistic freedom—a crucial stance during a time when totalitarian regimes sought to stifle creative expression. This emphasis on uninhibited artistic self-discovery aligned perfectly with the intellectually vibrant New York scene of the late 1930s and early 1940s, a fertile ground for the first generation of Abstract Expressionists.

Pousette-Dart's place within this influential American art movement was solidified by his participation in the seminal 9th Street Art Exhibition in 1951. In the same year, he famously appeared in Nina Leen's iconic Life magazine portrait, "The Irascibles," which cemented the Abstract Expressionists' image as radical avant-garde figures. While his significant contribution to post-war painting is largely recognized through his early role in this collective, Pousette-Dart himself rejected rigid artistic labels, often documenting his evolving ideas in personal notebooks.

In a 1951 address to art students, he underscored the importance of creative self-expression, describing painting as an endeavor intimately connected to an intuitive exploration of the unseen. "The artist must beware of all schools, isms, creeds or entanglements that tend to make him someone he is not," he cautioned. "He must stand alone, free and open... yet firmly rooted in reality."

Unlike many of his peers, who developed signature styles like Pollock’s "Drip Paintings" or Newman’s "Zip Paintings," Pousette-Dart's artistic evolution remained marked by an untamed spirit of experimentation throughout his life. However, one constant thread was his enduring fascination with the emotional power of light—as shimmer, iridescence, and a radiant force tied to boundless energy. This interest is powerfully evident in his later paintings, which often evoke the beauty of the starry night sky, and in works drawing inspiration from the glimmer of medieval craftsmanship or Gothic stained-glass windows. The allure of reflective surfaces also underpins his many brass objects, handcrafted pieces that blur the lines between avant-garde sculpture and modern jewelry, while offering a visual vocabulary of elemental forms that recur throughout his painted canvases.

"Poetry of Light" is a collaborative effort between the Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, and the Richard Pousette-Dart Foundation, New York, promising an enlightening and expansive view of this singular artist's legacy.