Wil Barnet (Beverly, Massachusetts, 1911 – 2012, New York, New York), Silent Seasons, Autumn (detail), 1969, lithograph on paper, 29 3/4 x 22 in., Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection: Purchase, Tabriz Fund and Museum Purchase Plan of the NEA. 1971.009.011.1.
Will Barnet: Seasons of Life
Drawing from an extensive selection of works on paper by Will Barnet (1911 – 2012) in the AMFA Foundation Collection, this exhibition celebrates an artist for whom the pendulum between realism and abstraction swung profoundly.
Barnet was at the center of major American art movements—documenting social realities during the Great Depression, developing abstraction in the postwar New York art scene, and returning to a new type of realism in the 1960s.
This exhibition, evoking the title of the artist’s famous screenprint series, The Silent Seasons, represents the shifting modes of Barnet’s career, looks for continuous throughlines, and commemorates AMFA’s long relationship with the artist.
Sponsors
Will Barnet: Seasons of Life is supported in part by Jackye and Curtis Finch, Jr.
The Museum extends its deepest gratitude to Jackye and Curtis Finch for their commitment to the growth of the AMFA Foundation Collection, and for their ongoing role in supporting the acquisition of works by Will Barnet.
This exhibition is organized by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.