Joyce Treiman

by Michael Duncan, Theodore F. Wolff

Joyce Treiman, one of the finest American painters of the late twentieth century, was also one of the most individualistic, combining virtuosic draftsmanship and expressive brushwork with a lifelong devotion to painting the human figure in images that are direct, visceral, and sensuous. The qualities that characterize Treiman's mature work are direct, uncompromising representationalism; an old-master attitude toward the handling of paint; a subtle but pervasive undercurrent of both irony and compassion; vibrant color and fluid brushwork; compositional complexity; and a passion for telling stories in paint.

180 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 1997

About the author

Michael Duncan, a critic and independent curator, is a Corresponding Editor for Art in America. His writings have focused on maverick artists of the twentieth century, West Coast modernism, twentieth century figuration, and contemporary California art. His curatorial projects include surveys and recontextualizations of works by Pavel Tchelitchew, Sister Corita Kent, Kim MacConnel, Lorser Feitelson, Eugene Berman, Richard Pettibone, Alberto Burri, and Wallace Berman. He was the curator of the 2009 Texas Biennial and is curator of the forthcoming exhibitions LA RAW: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles 1945-1980: From Rico Lebrun to Paul McCarthy and An Opening of the Field: Jess, Robert Duncan, & Their Circle.

Reviews

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

From looking at the images, Joyce Treiman seems like the kind of person one might want to know. Although I had never met her, I heard joyful stories from one of her gallerists, Mallory Freeman. I have seen many of these images before, and was interested in putting them into some sort of context.