Hedda Sterne’s Artistic Metamorphosis

with Gražina Subelytė

An active member of the New York School, Hedda Sterne created a vast body of work that traversed some of the key movements of the twentieth century, bridging European Modernism, in particular Surrealism, and American Abstract Expressionism. However, Sterne’s work stands as a testament to her independence of thought, moving freely between figuration and abstraction throughout her career. Sterne’s work was recommended to Peggy Guggenheim by Jean Arp, and was later included in five exhibitions at Guggenheim’s museum-gallery Art of This Century in New York. While Sterne is perhaps most recognizable as the only woman in the famous 1951 photograph of the so-called Irascibles, this talk will delve into her impressive body of work, which deserves wider recognition.