Seeing what, how and why : the ARTnews series, 1953–58

AbstractBetween 1953 and 1958, ARTnews in the United States included a series that focused on a particular contemporary artist who was interviewed while making an artwork. Amongst the artists, usually American, were de Kooning, Gottlieb, Diebenkorn, Mitchell and Lippold, and the series title used the artist's name, followed by ‘paints a picture’ or ‘makes a sculpture’ or some variant. Interviewers/writers included Fairfield Porter, Frank O'Hara, Thomas B. Hess and Irving Sandler.As well as providing an informative survey of contemporary art practice in New York, the series was innovative in that it provided an insight into the artist's work in progress and his/her thoughts about creativity. The format enabled the artist and commentator to talk about a particular work in terms of its aims, theme, preoccupations and interpretations, and for the commentator to provide not only a formal analysis, but also to describe some of the decision-making processes of the artist — why the artist had made a particular de...