Twenty years ago we organized a touring museum exhibition called Suitcase Paintings: Small Scale Abstract Expressionism in partnership with the Georgia Museum of Art. Our Suitcase Paintings exhibition was comprised of 58 works by 51 artists and traveled for two years to six museums. None of the work was for sale with much of it on loan. Afterwards we sold a few pieces but most were either retuned to the owner or tucked away, not for sale. The idea of a redux of the show, but in Chicago this time, has been bouncing around my head for several years and with our recent move to a new gallery location, it seemed the right time to take the plunge with Small Pleasures – Suitcase Paintings Redux.
Courtesy McCormick Gallery
Maurice Golubov (1905-1987), Untitled,gouache on paper, 1978, 8 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches
“It isn’t necessary to make things large to make them monumental.” - Hans Hoffman
We all love small things. Small things are manageable... think mortgage. Small things are adorable… think our new puppy Millie. Small things fit places... think in a suitcase. Small things are often affordable… (well, sometimes not). Small things can be representative of larger things... think Ideas, Concepts, Movements... God. Small works of art fit all of these criteria… and I love them.
Courtesy McCormick Gallery
Norman Zammitt (1931-2007), Red/Green Study, acrylic on canvas board, 1975, 7 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches
Courtesy McCormick Gallery
Michael Goldberg (1924-2007), Untitled, oil on board, 1957, 14 x 11 inches, signed at lower right
When the tour ended in 2008 I put away a number of those treasures with an eye to reprising the show someday… which is now. Our new SMALL PLEASURES show picks up the ethos of Suitcase Paintings but with a broader overview of American abstraction. While the body of the exhibition is all abstract, I think it is less rigidly grounded in Abstract Expressionism. Sizes of the included works varies with “small” being somewhat elastic — an Esphyr Slobodkina at 7 x 5 inches to a Willem de Kooning that is 24 x 19 inches. Some works here were included in the original museum show but this time around are available to acquire.
In a turn of the usual, we have chosen to present this exhibition in our booth at the Expo Chicago Art Fair, April 24 - 27 at Navy Pier, thinking it will find a much larger audience than anything we could expect at the gallery.
Courtesy McCormick Gallery
Perle Fine (1905-1988), Untitled, oil and collage on canvas, 1957, 12 x 10 inches
The works on view are an interesting combination of artists drawn from estates we have represented for years and first-timers we have never shown before. They include Mary Lee Abbott, Morris Barazani, Dusti Bongé, Willem de Kooning, Perle Fine, Michael Goldberg, Maurice Golubov, Richard Hunt, John Little, Michael Loew, Conrad Marca-Relli, Jan Matulka, Leonard Nelson, John Opper, Jane Piper, Melville Price, Robert Richenburg, Jack Roth, Esphyr Slobodkina, Mark Tobey, Vaclav Vytlacil, Taro Yamamoto, and Norman Zammitt. I’ve owned some of these paintings for over 25 years and parting is, I have to admit, a bit painful.
Courtesy McCormick Gallery
Mary Abbott (1921-2019), Untitled,mixed media on paper, c.1959
I saw an interesting article recently in the NY Times about a new craze of collecting very small artworks. Hmmm, who knew?
Thomas McCormick, Chicago
A 44 page catalog accompanies this show and is available at mccormickpress.com.
