Resources

The texts reproduced in this section offer additional insights into the history of the reception of modern American art at Tate and in post-war Britain. Essays written by former Tate staff reveal the gallery’s changing approach to the collection and display of American art, while catalogue essays offer further details about the post-war period and support the study of exhibitions of American art at Tate. The summaries list brings together gallery texts written about the very first works of American art that entered Tate’s collection.

John Rothenstein, ‘Painting in America’, 1941

Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, John Rothenstein, Director of the Tate Gallery since 1938, spent more …

Reginald Marsh, Sorting the Mail (detail) 1936, Ariel Rios Federal Building, Washington, D.C.

John Rothenstein, ‘American Art Today’, 1941

Rothenstein describes here the recent growth of public art commissions in the US. President Roosevelt, he explained in what was …

John Rothenstein, ‘A Note on American Painting’, 1946

John Rothenstein, Director of the Tate Gallery, provided an overview, as seen from the British side of the Atlantic, of …

Various authors, Modern Art in the United States , 1956

Tate hoped to host an exhibition of contemporary art from the United States soon after its first major show of …

Alfred Barr, ‘Introduction’, in The New American Painting , 1959

Three years after the exhibition Modern Art in the United States, Tate collaborated once more with New York’s Museum …

Ronald Alley, ‘Recent American Art’, 1969

As Keeper of the Modern Collection at the Tate Gallery from 1965 until his retirement in 1986, Ronald Alley proved …

E.C. Goossen, ‘The Art of the Real’, 1969

E.C. Goossen was a leading American critic and curator with in-depth knowledge of the contemporary art scene. Known for his …

Three Artists from Los Angeles exhibition plan

Michael Compton, ‘Three Artists from Los Angeles’, 1970

Michael Compton joined Tate as Assistant Curator in 1965 and five years later took on a new role as Keeper …

Artwork summaries

Over fifty summary texts about individual artworks in Tate’s collection focusing on the museum’s early acquisitions of American art