Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
This March 1956 issue of Art News holds a documented and lasting place in art-historical scholarship, since it contains the original publication of Louis Finkelstein's essay "New Look: Abstract-Impressionism," the article generally credited with coining the term "Abstract Impressionism" as a critical category for describing the work of painters whose abstract compositions retained a chromatic, atmospheric quality reminiscent of Impressionist painting. This essay, appearing on pages 36 through 39 and continuing on pages 66 through 68, has been cited continuously by art historians and museum scholars in the decades since, including in exhibition materials for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's 1961 survey of related work, making this issue a genuine primary source for tracing how American art criticism named and categorized the rapidly evolving abstract painting movements of the 1950s. The issue arrives during the influential editorship of Alfred M. Frankfurter, who had purchased and taken over Art News in 1936 and would continue leading the magazine until his death in 1965, a tenure during which the publication became, in the words of one contemporary critic, "the Wall Street Journal of the New York avant-garde." Frankfurter built Art News into an essential venue for serious art criticism by recruiting major international writers and scholars, including museum directors, curators, and the period's most significant critics, giving the magazine genuine authority within the art world conversations it covered.
This issue's broader contents reflect exactly the kind of wide-ranging, scholarly engagement that distinguished Art News throughout the Frankfurter era, spanning José López-Rey's examination of attribution questions surrounding Lucas and Goya, Parker Tyler's critical engagement with Morris Graves's mystical and pastiche-influenced work, and Robert Goodnough's coverage of sculptor David Hare, alongside Frankfurter's own editorial contribution on art world developments in Washington. The cover's selection of a detail from Botticelli's portrait of Giuliano de' Medici, depicting a turtledove perched on a withered branch, reflects the magazine's consistent practice of using Old Master imagery for its covers even while devoting substantial interior space to contemporary and emerging movements like Abstract Expressionism and its variants. This juxtaposition, a Renaissance masterwork on the cover alongside a landmark essay coining new critical vocabulary for contemporary abstraction, exemplifies the breadth Frankfurter cultivated at Art News, treating historical scholarship and live critical debate about contemporary art as equally legitimate and equally serious subjects within a single issue.
For collectors, this issue offers genuine scholarly significance well beyond typical period charm, since it preserves the original publication of a term still actively used in art-historical discourse today. That combination of documented critical-historical importance and the issue's broader representation of mid-1950s art criticism gives it substantial value within the broader landscape of Art News collecting, where issues containing landmark critical essays are particularly significant to scholars, museums, and serious collectors of art-historical primary sources.
About the Publication
Art News, founded in 1902 by James Clarence Hyde as Hyde's Weekly Art News, holds the distinction of being America's oldest art magazine, having undergone several name changes and ownership transitions before Alfred M. Frankfurter purchased the publication in 1936 and began the editorship that would define its mid-century identity. Under Frankfurter, who led the magazine until his death in 1965, Art News became an essential source of art criticism, exhibition reviews, and scholarly writing, recruiting an international roster of contributors that included museum directors, curators, and major critics from both the United States and Europe. The magazine's format combined serious critical essays on contemporary movements with scholarship on historical art, artist profiles, and exhibition coverage, giving it genuine authority within ongoing art-world debates about emerging styles and critical terminology. Art News played a particularly significant role in shaping the critical vocabulary used to describe and categorize American abstract painting throughout the 1940s and 1950s, with contributors coining and popularizing terms that remain in active art-historical use today. This combination of journalistic immediacy and lasting scholarly significance distinguishes Art News within the broader history of American art magazine publishing, and issues from the Frankfurter era in particular remain frequently cited primary sources in academic and museum scholarship.
Key Highlights Inside
- "New Look: Abstract-Impressionism" by Louis Finkelstein, pages 36-39 and 66-68, the essay credited with coining the term "Abstract Impressionism" as a critical category in American art writing. This term has been cited continuously in art-historical scholarship in the decades since, including in major museum exhibition materials. This issue represents the primary source origin point for a piece of critical vocabulary still in active use today.
- "Disentangling Lucas from Goya" by José López-Rey, page 40, addressing attribution questions within the Spanish master's body of work. López-Rey was a significant scholar of Spanish painting during this period. This piece reflects Art News's consistent commitment to serious historical scholarship alongside its contemporary art coverage.
- "Mysticism, pastiche and Graves" by Parker Tyler, page 42, a critical examination of painter Morris Graves's distinctive mystical and referential style. Tyler was a notable critic engaged with both visual art and film during this period. This piece reflects the kind of serious, individualized critical attention Art News gave to significant mid-century American painters.
- "David Hare makes a sculpture" by Robert Goodnough, page 46, documenting the working process of sculptor David Hare. Process-focused features of this kind gave readers an intimate look at how significant contemporary artists actually worked. Goodnough was himself a practicing artist as well as a writer for the magazine.
- "Crystal anniversary in the capital" by editor Alfred Frankfurter, page 24, and coverage of the Chrysler road show opening in Portland, page 45, rounding out the issue's mix of editorial commentary and exhibition reporting. These pieces reflect the breadth of subject matter Art News covered within a single issue, from major institutional milestones to touring exhibitions. This range was characteristic of the magazine's comprehensive approach to art-world coverage during the Frankfurter era.
Condition & Rarity
Surviving copies of this issue are generally evaluated using the same standards collectors apply across vintage art and culture magazines: cover gloss and corner sharpness, spine integrity, completeness of interior pages and plates, and overall condition free of significant tears, foxing, or moisture damage. A copy described as being in excellent condition, with light wear typical of its age, would be considered a strong example for a magazine now approaching seventy years old. The absence of a newsstand label reflects the issue's original point-of-sale distribution, generally considered a desirable trait among collectors of vintage art periodicals. A plastic protective sleeve is a standard and effective safeguard for issues of this vintage, helping prevent further handling wear, UV exposure, and humidity damage, though it has no bearing on the underlying grade of the magazine itself. Given this issue's documented significance as the original publication of a still-cited piece of art-historical terminology, collectors and institutions focused on mid-century American art criticism may weigh this issue's scholarly content very heavily relative to typical cosmetic considerations. Art News issues from the Frankfurter era are increasingly sought after by libraries, museum archives, and serious researchers studying the development of American art criticism, which can affect both availability and collector interest for issues with documented critical significance like this one. Pages free of brittleness, significant yellowing, or prior tape repairs remain the broader benchmark for a well-preserved copy of any magazine from this era.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
A March 1956 issue of Art News containing the original publication of Louis Finkelstein's landmark "Abstract-Impressionism" essay represents a genuinely significant primary source for collectors, researchers, and institutions studying mid-century American art criticism. If this particular issue isn't available, it's worth browsing the broader Art News magazine collection for other issues spanning this title's long and historically significant run, including additional issues from Alfred Frankfurter's influential editorship. Collectors focused on the era itself may also want to look through the full range of 1956 magazines for other issues from that pivotal year in American art and culture. Each of these collections offers a different way into the period, whether the interest lies in this specific title's critical and scholarly history or the broader cultural snapshot of a single year. A single year's worth of magazines often tells a fuller story than any one issue alone, particularly for a year capturing such significant developments in American abstract painting and its critical reception. Browsing by publication can also help collectors and researchers trace how Art News's critical vocabulary and coverage evolved across the pivotal decades of Frankfurter's editorship. Whichever angle appeals most, these collections are a useful starting point for going deeper into this consequential period of American art and magazine history.