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Series
USA: Artists
Episode Number
4
Episode
The New Abstraction: Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland
Producing Organization
National Educational Television and Radio Center
Contributing Organization
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/512-q814m92d29
NOLA Code
USAA
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Description
Episode Description
The late Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, both abstractionists or so-called color-filled painters, both who came under the same influences, were friends, lived in Washington, and painted work that was reciprocally influential, are featured in this episode. Morris Louis found the way first to the lyric potential of pure color and symmetrical painting, but he and Noland were thinking along the same lines, and after they met their development was almost simultaneous. The first half of the episode focuses on Louis. Art critic Clement Greenberg, painter Helen Jacobson who studied under Louis, his widow Marcella Brenner, and painter Helen Frankenthaler whose work greatly influenced both Louis and Noland, discuss their relationships with Louis both as man and artist, his attitudes to his work, and the influences on it. Morris Louis died in 1962 aged 50. As Louis and Noland were so closely connected, these discussions also reflect on Noland. Noland (who was represented at the last Venice Biennale) then himself discusses his work the influence of Pollack and Frankenthaler on it; the idea of a one-shot painting which is painted at once and left to stand; of his influential technical innovation of staining color into raw canvas; of his relationship with Louis, comparing their developments; of the commercial aspects of painting; and of his latest work. The episode affords the opportunity to see a great deal of his work, as well as that of Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler. Episode Running Time: 29:05 (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Series Description
USA: Artists features some of America's foremost artists, as National Educational Television's critically-acclaimed year-long "USA" series goes on to examine the coming of age of American painting and sculpture in the last two decades. "USA: Artists" is a production of National Educational Television. This series of 11 half-hour episodes was originally recorded on film. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Broadcast Date
1966-03-20
Asset type
Episode
Genres
Documentary
Topics
Biography
Fine Arts
Rights
Copyright National Educational Television & Radio Center March 20, 1966
Media type
Moving Image
Credits
Associate Producer: Slate, Mallory
Consultant: Solomon, Alan
Editor: Hanser, David
Executive Producer: Slate, Lane
Interviewee: Frankenthaler, Helen
Interviewee: Greenberg, Clement
Interviewee: Brenner, Marcella
Interviewee: Jacobson, Helen
Narrator: Rose, Norman
Producer: Slate, Lane
Producing Organization: National Educational Television and Radio Center
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1994330-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1994330-2 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive
Identifier: [request film based on title] (Indiana University)
Format: 16mm film
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Citations
Chicago: “USA: Artists; 4; The New Abstraction: Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland,” 1966-03-20, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed June 4, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-q814m92d29.
MLA: “USA: Artists; 4; The New Abstraction: Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland.” 1966-03-20. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. June 4, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-q814m92d29>.
APA: USA: Artists; 4; The New Abstraction: Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-q814m92d29