"The Third Mind" at the Guggenheim
By Emily Hulme
• ‘The Third Mind’ is at the Guggenheim through April 19.
"The Letter," Mary Cassatt, 1890-91
One could probably spend at least half a day taking in “The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989” at the Guggenheim.
The exhibit is a historical survey of American art, highlighting the Asian influence within. It’s a big theme applied to a wide-swath of history, and it brings together artists as diverse as Alfred Stieglitz, James Whistler, Yoko Ono, Robert Rauschenberg and Laurie Anderson.
Given its scope, there’s very little that can be said that applies to the exhibit as a whole. Eastern influence manifests itself in different ways for different artists: from technique to motif to form to philosophy.
For example, in a stunning set of prints by Mary Cassatt, the artist draws on the conventions of Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts — an off-centered composition on a flat plane with muted color. Robert Motherwell’s “Lyric Suite” series, on the other hand, plays with calligraphy and the Buddhist concept of mindlessness to create his abstract ink blot drawings.
It’s an ambitious project, but ultimately successful. There are more than 250 works on view, and each has room to breathe. Detailed wall text puts each piece into context of both American and Asian traditions, giving viewers plenty to contemplate as they make their way up the museum’s central spiral.
