Lucy Rowland Lippard (born April 14, 1937) is an American writer,

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogu ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

, and

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. Lippard was among the first writers to argue for the " dematerialization" at work in

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called inst ...

and was an early champion of

feminist art Feminist art is a category of art associated with the late 1960s and 1970s feminist movement. Feminist art highlights the societal and political differences women experience within their lives. The hopeful gain from this form of art is to bri ...

. She is the author of 21 books on

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

and has received numerous awards and accolades from literary critics and art associations.

Early life and education

Lucy Lippard was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and lived in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen ...

, before enrolling at

Abbot Academy Abbot Academy (also known as Abbot Female Seminary and AA) was an University-preparatory school, independent boarding preparatory school for women boarding and day students in grades 9–12 from 1828 to 1973. Located in Andover, Massachusetts, Abb ...

in 1952. Her father, Vernon W. Lippard, a pediatrician, became assistant dean at

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

in 1939, followed by appointments as dean of

Louisiana State University School of Medicine Louisiana State University School of Medicine refers to two separate medical schools in Louisiana: LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport. See also * LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans The Louisiana Sta ...

in New Orleans and then, the same position at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

. From 1952 to 1967, he was dean of his alma mater,

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary t ...

. She graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's c ...

with a B.A. in 1958. She went on to earn an M.A. in art history in 1962 from the

Institute of Fine Arts The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philos ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

. Just out of college, Lippard began working in the library at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

in 1958 where, in addition to reshelving the library after a fire, she was "farmed out" to do research for curators. She credits these years of working at MoMA, paging, filing, and researching, with preparing her "well for the archival, informational aspect of conceptual art." At MoMA she worked with curators such as Bill Lieberman, Bill Seitz and Peter Selz. By 1966, she had curated two traveling exhibitions for MoMA, one on "soft sculpture" and one on

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

, as well as worked with Kynaston McShine on '' Primary Structures'' before he was hired by the Jewish Museum, taking the show with him. It was at MoMA that Lippard met

Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pre ...

who was working the night desk; John Button, Dan Flavin,

Al Held Al Held (October 12, 1928 – July 27, 2005) was an American Abstract expressionist painter. He was particularly well known for his large scale Hard-edge paintings. As an artist, multiple stylistic changes occurred throughout his career, ho ...

Robert Mangold Robert Mangold (born October 12, 1937) is an American minimalist artist. He is also father of film director and screenwriter James Mangold. Early life and education Mangold was born in North Tonawanda, New York. His mother, Blanche, was a ...

, and

Robert Ryman Robert Ryman (May 30, 1930February 8, 2019) was an American painter identified with the movements of monochrome painting, minimalism, and conceptual art. He was best known for abstract, white-on-white paintings. He lived and worked in New York ...

all held positions at the museum during this time as well. In 1960, she married then-emerging painter Robert Ryman, who worked at MoMA as a museum guard from 1953 until 1960. Before divorcing six years later, the couple had one child, Ethan Ryman, who eventually became an artist himself.

Career

Since 1966, Lippard has published 20 books—including one novel—on feminism, art, politics and place. She has received numerous awards and accolades from literary critics and art associations. A 2012 exhibition on her seminal book, ''Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object'' at the Brooklyn Museum, titled ''"Six Years": Lucy R. Lippard and the Emergence of Conceptual Art"'', cites Lippard's scholarship as its point of entry into a discussion about conceptual art during its era of emergence, demonstrating her crucial role in the contemporary understanding of this period of art production and criticism. Her research on the move toward Dematerialization in art making has formed a cornerstone of contemporary art scholarship and discourse. Lucy Lippard was a member of the populist political artist group known as the Art Workers Coalition, or AWC. Her involvement in the AWC as well as a trip she took to Argentina—such trips bolstered the political motivations of many feminists of the time—influenced a change in the focus of her criticism, from formalist subjects to more feministic ones. Lucy Lippard is also believed to be a co-founder of

West-East Bag West-East Bag (WEB) was an international women artists network active from 1971 to 1973. West-East Bag formed towards the beginning of the feminist art movement in the United States. Sources differ as to the exact origin of WEB. In one account, a ...

, an international women artist network which was founded in 1971, in the early beginnings of the feminist art movement in the United States. Their newsletter W.E.B. mentioned tactics used against museums to protest the lack of female representation in museum collections and exhibitions. The group was dissolved in 1973. In 1975, Lippard travelled to Australia and spoke to groups of women artists in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

about the creation of archives of women artists' work on photographic slides, known as slide registers, by West-East Bag, the idea being to counteract their lack of showings in

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lo ...

. Lippard was a major influence in the establishment of the

Women's Art Movement The Women's Art Movement (WAM) was an Australian feminist art movement, founded in Sydney in 1974, Melbourne in 1974, and Adelaide in 1976 (as the Women's Art Group, or WAG). Background Such movements had already been created in other countri ...

in Australia, and developed a friendship with leading proponent Vivienne Binns, who later visited New York. In 1976, Lucy Lippard published a monographic work on the sculptor

Eva Hesse Eva Hesse (January 11, 1936 – May 29, 1970) was a German-born American sculptor known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics. She is one of the artists who ushered in the postminimal art movement in the 196 ...

combining biography and criticism, formal analysis and psychological readings to tell the story of her life and career. The book was designed by Hesse’s friend and colleague,

. Each of her seventy sculptures and many of her drawings are reproduced and discussed within the book. Being a long-time friend of Hesse, Lippard treads a fine line between public and private life. She writes about the achievements and many struggles in Hesse’s life that had an impact on who she was as a person. Eva Hesse was born in 1936, in Germany, but because of her Jewish upbringing she and her family were forced to flee from the Nazi regime in 1938, arriving in New York in 1939. During their flight, Hesse’s father kept diaries of the journey for each of the children, a habit Hesse returned to later in her life. In these diaries she talked about the struggles in her life. Hesse is an American artist known for her innovative use of materials in her sculptures, such as fibreglass, latex and plastics. This innovative use of ‘soft’ materials, have become an inspiration source for a younger generation of women artists. Lippard further writes that although Hesse died before

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

affected the art world, she was well aware of the manner in which her experience as a woman altered her art and her career. In writing this important work on Eva Hesse, Lucy Lippard has tapped into her knowledge of and passion for feminism, particularly within the art world. Although the book is long out-of-print, this classic text remains both an insightful critical analysis and a tribute to an important female artist ‘whose genius has become increasingly apparent with the passage of time.’ Co-founder of Printed Matter, Inc (an art bookstore in New York City centered on

artist's books Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

), the

Heresies Collective The Heresies Collective was founded in 1976 in New York City, by a group of feminist political artists. The group sought to, among other goals, examine art from a feminist and political perspective. In addition to a variety of actions and cultural o ...

, Political Art Documentation/Distribution (PAD/D), Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America, and other artists' organizations, she has also curated over 50 exhibitions, made performances, comics, guerrilla theater, and edited several independent publications the latest of which is the decidedly local ''La Puente de Galisteo'' in her home community in Galisteo, New Mexico.Finding Aid to the Lucy R. Lippard Papers, 1940s-2006
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 4 Nov 2013. She has infused

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of ...

with politics, and disdained disinterestedness for ethical activism. In 1966, Lucy Lippard organized the exhibition Eccentric Abstraction at Fischback Gallery in New York. With this exhibition, Lippard brought together a group of abstract artists which included Alice Adams,

Louise Bourgeois Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (; 25 December 191131 May 2010) was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a varie ...

Lindsey Decker Lindsey Decker (1923–1994) was an American artist who was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Decker's work was included in the 1966 exhibition ''Eccentric Abstraction'' held at the Fischbach Gallery in New York City. Works by the artist can be found in ...

Gary Kuehn Gary Kuehn (born January 28, 1939, Plainfield, New Jersey) is an American artist who pioneered the Postminimal and Process Art movements of the 1960s. Life and career Gary Kuehn was born in 1939 to working-class family. His father was a mac ...

Bruce Nauman Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941) is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico. Life and work ...

, Keith Sonnier, and more. The exhibition focussed on the ‘use of organic abstract form in sculpture evoking the gendered body through an emphasis on process and materials.’ Lippard referred to eccentric abstraction as a “non-sculptural style,” which was closer to abstract painting than to sculpture. She was interviewed for the film '' !Women Art Revolution''.

Selected honors and awards

Lippard holds nine honorary doctorates of fine arts, of which some are listed below. *2015: Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing on Art,

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understa ...

* 2013: Honorary doctorate,

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aerospace headquarte ...

* 2013: Distinguished critic lecture, International Association of Art Critics, United States * 2012: Distinguished Feminist Award,

* 2010: Award for Curatorial Excellence, Center for Curatorial Studies,

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 18 ...

* 2007: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, ''honoris causa'', Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD University) * 1976: National Endowment for the Arts grant * 1975: Frank Jewett Mather Award for Criticism,

* 1972: National Endowment for the Arts grant * 1968:

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

Selected exhibitions

* ''Eccentric Abstraction'',

Fischbach Gallery The Fischbach Gallery is an art gallery in New York City. It was founded by Marilyn Cole Fischbach in 1960 at 799 Madison Avenue. The gallery in its early days became known for hosting the first significant solo exhibitions of now leading art w ...

, New York, 1966 * ''Rejective Art'', organized by the

American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 ...

, New York, traveled to three US venues in 1967-8 * ''Number 7'', Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, 1969 * ''557,087'', Seattle World's Fair Pavilion, September 1969 * ''955,000'', Vancouver Art Gallery, 1970 * ''2,972,453'', Centro de Arte y Communicacion, Buenos Aires, 1971 * ''c.7,500'', CalArts, Valencia, CA, traveling throughout US and Europe, 1973–1974 "Process of Attrition: AMARCORD:Number Shows"
. Retrieved 9 January 2014."From Conceptualism to Feminism."
Afterall Book Review.

Selected publications

* ''Undermining: A Wild Ride Through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West.'' New York: The New Press. 2014. * ''4,492,040.'' Los Angeles: New Documents. 2012. * ''Weather Report''. Boulder, C.O.: Boulder Museum of Contemporary Arts. 2007. * ''On the beaten track: tourism, art and place.'' New York: New Press. 1999. * ''The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society.'' New York: New Press. 1998. * ''The Pink Glass Swan.'' New York: New Press, 1995. * ''Mixed blessings: new art in a multicultural America.'' New York: Pantheon Books. 1990. * ''A different war: Vietnam in art.'' Bellingham, Wash: Whatcom Museum of History and Art. 1990. * "Trojan Horses: Activist Art and Power." ''Art After Modernism: Rethinking Representation,'' edited by Brian Wallis. Boston, M.A.: David R. Godine. 1985. * ''Get the message?: a decade of art for social change.'' New York: E.P. Dutton. 1984 * ''Overlay: contemporary art and the art of prehistory.'' New York: Pantheon Books. 1983 * ''I See / You Mean.'' Los Angeles: Chrysalis Books. 1979. Reprint, Los Angeles: New Documents. 2021. * ''Eva Hesse.'' New York: New York University Press. 1976. * ''From the center: feminist essays on women's art.'' New York: Dutton. 1976. * ''Six years: the dematerialization of the art object from 1966 to 1972; a cross-reference book of information on some esthetic boundaries.'' New York: Praeger. 1973. * ''Changing: essays in art criticism.'' New York: Dutton. 1971. * ''Surrealists on art.'' Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. 1970. * ''Pop art.'' New York: Praeger. 1966. * ''The Graphic Work of Philip Evergood''. New York: Crown, 1966.

References

External links

*
"Finding Her Place" ''Author, Author'', by Kennan Daniel, Phillips Academy Bulletin, Winter 2001

Lucy R. Lippard Papers, circa 1940–1995, Smithsonian Archives of American Art

Lucy R. Lippard papers: Images, Smithsonian Archives of American Art
* Works by or about Lucy R
Lippard
in libraries (

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

catalog)
Lucy Lippard 1974: An Interview

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippard, Lucy R. 1937 births Living people American art critics American art curators American women curators American art historians American women's rights activists Feminist studies scholars Frank Jewett Mather Award winners Women art historians American women journalists American women critics New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni People from New Mexico Journalists from New York City Historians from New York (state) American women historians Heresies Collective members Abbot Academy alumni 21st-century American women