INVENTING ABSTRACTION >>>

New York City is the art capital of the world. I know that's disappointing; you thought Tacoma was, but it's not.

The Museum of Modern Art located in said city, staid institution that I is, is the end-all and be-all authority on modern art - and in particular the historical archive of modern art. Their latest show, Inventing Abstraction, 1910-1925, just might be the largest and most definitive exhibition of art from that important period of art. Back then, New York was not the art capital of the world. Paris was. And most art aficionadas throughout the Western World thought the United States was a provincial backwoods, which it was. We were the rednecks of world art. And by-the-way, few people anywhere in America or Europe considered Asian art worthy of consideration - few, that is, accept a handful of the most innovative artists in the world from Van Gogh and Gauguin to Picasso.

Anyway, abstract art, which came to dominate the world art scene, began with European artists in the first years of the 20th century and soon immigrated to the United States where eventually - in the 1940s - New York would establish itself as the world art center.

And now MOMA has launched the definitive exhibition to survey that historic development. Unfortunately for many in T-town, a trip to the Big Apple is out of the question. But, on the other hand, many may have that opportunity sometime between now and April 15, which is how long the show will be on view. And for those who can't go to New York, there's always the Internet.

Well, not exactly, or not enough of it, because the MOMA site has only a brief teaser of an introduction and a notice that the pages for this particular show are under construction. Check back. It's coming ... hopefully soon.

While waiting for MOMA to get its act together, there's a great preview article about the show in the New York Times. I highly recommend that everyone who loves art should read this article either online or in person. What you learned in art history classes will come alive. You'll see impressive works by major artists such as Picasso (who, by-the-way, never did anything completely abstract) and Kandinsky (generally thought of as the first abstract painter) and many other familiar names. Plus you'll discover a lot of artists you never before heard of - most importantly some very impressive women artists who were not included in the history books and were never given their due respect when they were alive and making art.