The American abstract art movement, culminating in the early 20th century, was considered a new chapter in American art history. This revolutionary period will be on display at the Berkshire Museum from June 13 to Nov. 1. The exhibit, Color and Form: The Language of Abstract Art, is curated by author, professor, and art historian Hellmut Wohl, and includes works from the Museum’s A.E. Gallatin collection and features pieces from contemporary artists such as Tom O’Neil and Chuck Webster.

“This exhibit showcases our extensive and unique abstract art collection donated to the museum by Mr. Gallatin in 1943,” said Stuart Chase, executive director, Berkshire Museum. “It is quite an honor to be able to show this original and groundbreaking work to the public.” Albert Eugene Gallatin is a key figure in bringing abstract art to the United States. He believed modern art played a vital role in the evolution of American life and culture. From 1927 to 1942, he collected works from Picasso, Gris, Léger and many others for his Museum of Living Art at New York University. This collection, according to painter and art critic, George L.K. Morris, represented a new direction in American art. Morris wrote of the collection’s “emphasis on structural fabric, an honesty of presentation and a sense of fresh discovery.”

Once the museum closed in 1943, Gallatin donated over a dozen works of art to the Berkshire Museum’s collection. Prior to the advent of abstract art in the 20th century, a picture representing nothing more than colors and shapes was unheard of. In the late 19th century, artists such as Cézanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh found themselves sloughing off conventional wisdom, accepted technique, and predictable subject matter. As a result, the artists found themselves painting in near isolation and searching for new means of expression. This struggle led them to pay less attention to the subject and to concentrate more on the picture and painting itself, leading finally to abstract art, where the challenge is to create an expressive pictorial space while maintaining the picture plane’s two dimensionality, according to curator Hellmut Wohl.

“Abstraction is a state of mind, it’s not concrete and that’s okay,” said Chase of the A.E. Gallatin collection and accompanying contemporary artists. “These works represents a conscious step away from 20th century art, at a time when stepping out of the norms was not embraced as it is now.”

A panel discussion will be held at Berkshire Museum on Thursday, October 1, at 7 p.m., with Hellmut Wohl, curator of Color and Form: The Language of Abstract Art, and exhibiting artists Chuck Webster and Tom O’Neil. They will discuss the curation of the exhibition and their own personal work. The presentation is free with Museum admission.