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GEOMETRIC ABSTRACTIONS’ WORKS BETH URDANG w/no cuts

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BOSTON, MASS. — The Beth Urdang Gallery is presenting an exhibition of rare paintings and works on paper by some of the founders and followers of the movement known as “Geometric Abstraction,” an aesthetic that grew out of European and Russian traditions at the turn of the century, but which matured in the United States in the period roughly from 1935–1945.

“Geometric Abstractions of the 1930s and 1940s” is on view through February 5. Drawing from a wide and diverse group of inspirations —among them music, outer space, the machine age, skyscrapers, city streets, even mathematics and scientific exploration — these artists reacted against the prevailing interest in “Social Realism,” and took a more renegade stance. For them, art was about pure form and pure color, and they aligned themselves with their intellectual counterparts abroad and influenced future generations, most notably the “Op” artists, the minimalists and all who shunned representation in favor of jazzy, spiritual paintings, sculpture and works on paper that were only loosely grounded in realty.

Paintings and works on paper by the following artists are included: Emil Bisttram, Ilya Bolotowsky, Ed Garman, Burgoyne Diller,  Theordore Roszak, Ad Reinhardt, Carl Holty, Jo Cain, Rolph Scarlett, John Sennhauser, Abraham Walkowitz and Albert Swinden.

Beth Urdang Gallery is at 14 Newbury Street. For information, 617-0424-8468 or www.BethUrdangGallery.com