Solo Selling Exhibition to Showcase Over 30 Paintings and Works on Paper, On View From 25 July – 10 August at 432 Park Avenue
18 1/4 x 21 1/2 in. (46.4 x 54.6 cm)
PhillipsX has announced Lynne Drexler’s Garden: Works from the 1950s-1990s, a solo exhibition highlighting the acclaimed Abstract Expressionist. This selling exhibition, featuring pieces drawn from private collections, will be on view from 25 July to 10 August as part of Phillips’ “Summer on Park” program. Now in its second year, the program offers a variety of sales and exhibitions at the company’s Park Avenue flagship. The selected artworks for Lynne Drexler’s Garden showcase her vibrant paintings and works on paper, illustrating key moments in her artistic journey from the 1950s in Manhattan to her final two decades on Monhegan Island, Maine. This exhibition is particularly timely, given the strong market demand for works by women Abstract Expressionists in recent seasons.
Robert Manley, Deputy Chairman and Worldwide Co-Head of Modern & Contemporary Art, said, “We are honored to present Lynne Drexler’s incredible body of work through this selling exhibition, which highlights the Abstract Expressionist’s many contributions to the art historical canon. These vibrant paintings showcase her mastery of color and composition, serving as a testament to her reputation as one of the most compelling artists of the 20th century. We look forward to welcoming collectors and enthusiasts to 432 Park for this unique opportunity to experience the extraordinary talent of Drexler and celebrate her enduring influence on Contemporary art.”
oil on canvas
64 x 49 1/4 in. (162.6 x 125.1 cm)
Drexler has seen strong institutional recognition over the years, with her works having been acquired at such prestigious museums as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Art Institute of Chicago, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Lynne Drexler Archive is represented in the U.S. by Berry Campbell Gallery, which partnered with Mnuchin Gallery in 2022 to present the first solo show of her work in New York in more than three decades. As of 2023, White Cube Gallery in London represents her outside the U.S., which will host a solo exhibition of her works from November 2024 to January 2025, marking the first major presentation of Drexler’s work in Europe and highlighting her growing international acclaim.
oil on canvas mounted on Masonite
20 x 15 in. (50.8 x 38.1 cm)
The paintings and colored pencil drawings seen in Lynne Drexler’s Garden chart her stylistic progression over five decades. In the mid to late 1950s, Drexler moved to New York City to further her art studies under the guidance of Robert Motherwell at Hunter College and Hans Hofmann where she developed a keen interest in Abstract Expressionism. Motherwell taught her essential composition and draftsmanship techniques while Hofmann and the work of Henri Matisse influenced her to adopt a vibrant painting style characterized by free brush strokes and dynamic color compositions, often referred to as the “push-pull” technique. Her early works recall the intensity of Vincent Van Gogh, Pointillism’s rich opticality, and the floating bubbles of color seen in Gustav Klimt. A lover of classical music, Drexler regularly drew inspiration during live performances at the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall.
17 1/2 x 12 in. (44.5 x 30.5 cm)
colored pencil and crayon on paper
By the 1980s, her paintings and drawings evolved into naturalistic landscapes and still lifes bursting with vibrant color, deeply influenced by the rugged natural beauty of Monhegan Island, where she would spend her last two decades. It was in Monhegan where Drexler would achieve a unique stylistic synthesis of Abstract Expressionism and Post-Impressionism that would become the signature of her oeuvre. These works feature upbeat representational subjects in warm palettes, transcend ordinary themes, and evolve into captivating compositions. After Drexler’s passing in 1999, the Monhegan Historical and Cultural Museum Association organized the first retrospective exhibition of her work in 2008. The exhibition traveled to the Portland Museum of Art in 2008 and 2009, and interest in her work continues to flourish.
