The Fate Of A Gesture

Providing an intimate biography of Jackson Pollock, Carter Ratcliff follows the story of postwar American art from the late 1940s through the triumph of Abstract Expressionism and the explosion of Pop Art, all the way to the boom of the 1980s, which brought stardom to an array of young artists.

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I am indebted first to Thomas B. Hess and James Fitzsimmons, the editors of Artnews and Art International, who encouraged me to publish the essays and reviews that led, years later, to this book. I am equally grateful for the encouragement I have received from Elizabeth C. Baker, the editor of Art in America.