At the Museum \ Current & Upcoming Exhibitions \ Past Exhibitions \ Resources
From the 1930s through the 1950s artists living and working in the Boston area explored human emotion and spirituality with color and imagination, painting figuratively at a time when abstraction was the trend. The movement became known as the School of Boston Expressionism. These artists embraced a distinctive blend of visionary painting, dark humor, religious mysticism, and social commentary. Their technique was unique as well; these artists pushed paint across their canvases in a manner that would influence artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, and would impact the development of Abstract Expressionism.
Today, Danforth Art holds more than 300 works of art considered to be of the School of Boston Expressionism, including four generations of artists from the 1930s to the current day. Considered together, artists of each generation allow us to trace the presence of an “expressive voice” in contemporary art. While each artist works in their own way, their work continues a tradition of painterly expressionism, expanding our consideration of contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, and printmaking.
Explore a selection of these works more deeply in this online gallery. For more information about the work (date, medium, whether it is currently on view), please click on the artwork image below to open a page from our collections database.
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David Aronson, |
Katherine Porter, Untitled |
Jack Levine, |
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Arthur Polonsky, Rising Light |
Barbara Swan, Portrait of Aaron |
Gerry Bergstein, |
Danforth Art is committed to exhibiting work by Boston Expressionist painters. Since 2005, the museum has showcased work from first-generation Boston Expressionists Jack Levine and Hyman Bloom, who both realized great success in the late 1930s; from second generation Boston Expressionists, who studied with Karl Zerbe at the School for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, such as David Aronson and Barbara Swan; and, finally, from contemporary artists like Gerry Bergstein and Jon Imber, whose work traces the presence of an “expressive voice” in contemporary art.
The Expressive Voice: Landscape Reimagined
March 15–May 17, 2015
Facial Expressions
November 23, 2014–March 1, 2015
The Expressive Voice: Brought to Light
September 7, 2014–November 9, 2014
Barbara Swan: Reflected Self
November 17, 2013–February 23, 2014
REED KAY Painting Retrospective, 1953-2004
April 7, 2013 – May 24, 2013
JOHN WILSON Eternal Presence
November 17, 2012 – March 24, 2013
THE EXPRESSIVE VOICE Selections from the Permanent Collection
March 4, 2012 - May 20, 2012
THE EXPRESSIVE VOICE Selections from the Permanent Collection
November 20, 2011 - February 26, 2012
A FEAST OF PURE REASON: Expressionism in Boston
November 14, 2010 - February 6, 2011
BOSTON EXPRESSIONISM: Other Voices
September 12, 2010 - November 7, 2010
HENRY SCHWARTZ : The Eternal Footman
November 22, 2009 - February 28, 2010
GERRY BERGSTEIN : Effort at Speech
November 18, 2009 - March 14, 2010
DAVID ARONSON : The Paradox
November 21, 2009 - February 28, 2010
JASON BERGER : Directed Vision
October 24, 2008 - March 1, 2009
ARTHUR POLONSKY : A Thief of Light
February 10 - May 18, 2008
HYMAN BLOOM : A Spiritual Embrace
December 1, 2006 - March 11, 2007
JACK LEVINE : Political Discourse
March 31 - May 22, 2005
Danforth Art catalogues and other resource material may be available for purchase in the Shop at Danforth Art. Please inquire at the admissions desk or contact us at (508) 620-0050 or .
Arthur Polonsky: A Thief of Light
Danforth Museum of Art Exhibition Catalogue, 2008
Catalogue and Essay by Katherine French (view essay)
Additional Essays by Barbara Swan and Arthur Polonsky
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008922008
Hyman Bloom: A Spiritual Embrace
Danforth Museum of Art Exhibition Catalogue, 2006
Foreword by Rabbi David Sears (view foreword)
Catalogue and Essay by Katherine French (view essay)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006937958
Boston Modern: Figurative Expressionism as Alternative Modernism
By Judith Arlene Bookbinder
Published by UPNE, 2005
ISBN 1584654880, 9781584654889, 372 pages
Painting in Boston: 1950-2000
By Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Nicholas J. Capasso, Jennifer Uhrhane,
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
Published by University of Massachusetts Press, 2002
ISBN 1558493646, 9781558493643, 264 pages
Against the Grain: The Second Generation of Boston Expressionism
October 28 - December 17, 2000
University of New Hampshire Art Gallery
Hyman Bloom
Tied to the Tracks Films, 2005
Angelica Allenda Brisk, Producer/Director/Co-Writer
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