Collecting and Exhibiting American Art at Tate
The essays in this section explore the significance of three survey exhibitions of American art held at Tate during the post-war years in relation to Tate’s engagement with American art more broadly during the directorships of John Rothenstein and Norman Reid. They examine Tate’s institutional attitudes towards American art, revealing the opportunities and challenges it faced in building a world-class collection of art from the United States, and the transatlantic relations that had an impact on post-war British art and society.
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American Art under John Rothenstein, 1938–64
As Director of the Tate Gallery, John Rothenstein showed a commitment to transatlantic relations and a distinctly national view of … -
American Art under Norman Reid, 1964–79
Norman Reid’s directorship of the Tate Gallery was marked by several high-profile and sometimes controversial acquisitions and exhibitions of American …
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American Painting , 1946
Presented at the Tate Gallery in 1946, American Painting: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day was the first … -
Modern Art in the United States , 1956
The 1956 exhibition Modern Art in the United States introduced visitors to the Tate Gallery to a wide range of … -
The New American Painting , 1959
Keen to present the latest American painting to British audiences, the Tate Gallery secured a place for itself in the …
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A Failed Charm Offensive: Tate and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Keen to expand Tate’s holdings of modern international art, the Director Norman Reid tried hard to persuade the American collector … -
E.J. Power: A Pioneering Collector of American Art
E.J. (or Ted) Power was the first, and for a period, the only substantial collector of contemporary art in Britain. …
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‘Realism Reconsidered’: Ben Shahn in London, 1956
On the occasion of his inclusion in an exhibition of American art at the Tate Gallery in London in 1956, … -
An ‘Outcast’ Abroad: Ad Reinhardt in London, 1964
When Ad Reinhardt’s first solo exhibition in the UK opened in 1964, the artist chose to present himself as an …