Robert Mattison is an American academic, art historian, curator, and author who is the Marshall R. Metzger Emeritus professor of art history at

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...

. He is known for his authorship on

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

, especially the painters

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...

and

Franz Kline Franz Kline (May 23, 1910 – May 13, 1962) was an American painter. He is associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940s and 1950s. Kline, along with other action painters like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mo ...

Biography

Mattison earned his BA in art history from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

in Midddlebury, Vermont and his MA from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. Located in Berkshire County, the town is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statis ...

, where he studied with George Heard Hamilton and Julius Held. He received MFA and PhD from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, where he studied with Sam Hunter. Mattison's doctoral dissertation at Princeton became his first book "

: The Formative Years" (

UMI Research Press The University of Michigan Press is a university press that is a part of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. It publishes 170 new titles each year in the humanities and social sciences. Titles from the press have earned ...

1987). His second book was "

Grace Hartigan Grace Hartigan (March 28, 1922 – November 15, 2008) was an American abstract expressionist painter and a significant member of the vibrant New York School of the 1950s and 1960s. Her circle of friends, who frequently inspired one another in t ...

: A Painter’s World" ( udson Hills Press 1990). In 1995, he authored "Masterworks in the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection : Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein">Jasper Johns">udson Hills Press 1990). In 1995, he authored "Masterworks in the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection : Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly, and

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...

. In 2004, this book was followed by "Robert Rauschenberg: Breaking Boundaries" published by Yale University Press. In 2010, Mattison published "

Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky ( ; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, ; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian Americans, Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of his life as a national of the ...

: Works and Writings" (Ediciones Poligrapha). Subsequently, Mattison wrote the monograph "

Ronald Bladen Ronald Bladen (July 13, 1918 – February 3, 1988) was a Canadian-born American painter and sculptor. He is particularly known for his large-scale sculptures. His artistic stance, was influenced by European Constructivism, American Hard-Edge P ...

: Sculpture (Abbeville Press, 2019). Most recently Mattison directed and authored the online Catalogue Raisonne "

Paintings: 1950-1962" for the Hauser & Wirth Institute. Previous to this, in 2012-13, Mattison curated the exhibition and wrote the catalog for "Franz Kline: Coal and Steel" at the Allentown Art Museum in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

and Baruch College, New York City.. Overall, Mattison has curated fifty exhibitions. He has written 120 articles and exhibition catalogs which, in addition to studies of Hartigan, Kline, Motherwell, and Rauschenberg, explore aspects of the works of artists including:

Stephen Antonakos Stephen Antonakos (; November 1, 1926 in Agios Nikolaos, Laconia, Greece – August 17, 2013 in New York City) was a Greek-American sculptor most well known for his abstract sculptures often incorporating neon. Life and works Antonakos moved wit ...

William Baziotes William Baziotes (June 11, 1912 – June 6, 1963) was an American painter influenced by Surrealism and was a contributor to Abstract Expressionism. Life and career Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Greek parents Angelos and Stella, Baziotes w ...

Audrey Flack Audrey Lenora Flack (May 30, 1931 – June 28, 2024) was an American visual artist. Her work pioneered the art genre of photorealism and encompasses painting, printmaking, sculpture, and photography. Flack had numerous academic degrees, includi ...

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

Richard Pousette-Dart Richard Warren Pousette-Dart (June 8, 1916 – October 25, 1992) was an American abstract expressionist artist most recognized as a founder of the New York School of painting.Kimmelman, Michae"Richard Pousette-Dart, 76, Dies; An Early Abstract E ...

, Theodore Stamos, and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattison, Robert Living people American art historians American art curators Princeton University alumni Middlebury College alumni Williams College alumni