The art historian David Anfam, renowned for his scholarship on Abstract Expressionism, has died.
His first book, simply titled Abstract Expressionism, was published by Thames and Hudson in 1990 and was followed by numerous monographs including studies of Joan Mitchell, Edward Hopper and Franz Kline. In 1998 he authored the catalogue raisonné of Jackson Pollock.
He was the senior consulting curator to the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, and his exhibition credits elsewhere include Bill Viola’s Ocean Without a Shore at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007, in the Church of San Gallo, and, again to coincide the with the biennale, the 2015 Jackson Pollock’s Mural: Energy Made Visible at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. In 2016 he cocurated the landmark Abstract Expressionism survey for London’s Royal Academy of Arts
Anfram was called as a witness to the 2016 Knoedler Fraud Trial, in which the accused had produced paperwork which appeared to show Anfam endorsing a forged Jackson Pollock as genuine. The art historian told the court he had never even seen the painting in question.
When the National Gallery Washington postponed its long-planned survey of the artist Phillip Guston in 2022 – over sensitivity concerns relating to the artists depiction of the Ku Klux Klan – Anfam was among the most vehement critics. He told Artlyst: ‘Sometimes diplomacy, discretion, restraint, even silence are the correct order of the day. Sometimes matters require real action, speaking out. This farrago has sparked my imperious streak, so for once I won’t hold back… With the volatile state of the art world, global economy and other challenges, museums are in greater peril than ever before. Hence an old adage is relevant: the best way to defend is to attack. Don’t back down. Be bold. Stick to your guns.’
