Stars and Stripes: American Prints and Drawings

This exhibition focuses on American art selected from the collection of prints and drawings from the Western Gallery and from the Washington Art Consortium. The Western Gallery is a founding member of this consortium - a unique group in the nation - who own together American works on paper (1945-1975). Specific subject matter relating to the urban environment and landscape dominate the American scene from the 1920s-40s. These earlier psychological and social themes prevail but on a more universal level during the rise of formal abstraction during the 1950s-60s. During the sixties and seventies artists utilized drawing to reflect popular culture as well as to project conceptual operations.