Absence/Presence

Absence/Presence Synopsis

Abstract Expressionist painter Richard Pousette-Dart (1916-92) pursued photography throughout his long and distinguished career, creating brilliant nature studies and portraits, including of New York School colleagues Mark Rothko, Betty Parsons, John Graham, Barnett Newman and Theodoros Stamos. In 1948 Pousette-Dart's photographs were exhibited at the Betty Parsons Gallery and, in 1953, honored by Photography magazine, yet this body of work has been overshadowed by the artist's achievements in painting.

This volume is the first in-depth consideration of the artist's photographic work. Many of the photographs are published for the first time, and include portraits of artists, musicians, filmmakers and writers drawn from the rich milieu in which Pousette-Dart flourished, as well as sumptuous studies of the natural world.