Primacy: The Washington Color School

This brochure accompanies Primacy: The Washington Color School, an exhibition featuring nine pioneering artists who transformed American abstract painting in Washington, D.C. during the 1960s. Anchored by works from the original 1965 Washington Color Painters exhibition organized by Gerald Norland, the publication examines how these artists developed their distinctive approaches to color and form, moving away from the gestural emphasis of Abstract Expressionism toward a new aesthetic characterized by flat, hard-edged planes of color and innovative painting techniques.

Through detailed analysis of key works, including Morris Louis’s Number 19, Gene Davis’s Red Dog, and Sam Gilliam’s Patch, the brochure explores how these artists experimented with new materials and methods, particularly their groundbreaking use of acrylic paint applied directly to unprimed canvas. From Sam Francis’s early Abstract Expressionist-influenced Study for Moby Dick to Alma Thomas’s meticulously constructed lattices of color and Kenneth Young’s controlled chaos, the publication traces the development of individual styles that collectively established the Washington Color School as a significant force in postwar American art.

Published by Edward Tyler Nahem, New York, 2021

Essay by Dexter Wimberly

Edited by SNAP Editions

Designed by Tim Laun and Natalie Wedeking

Fully illustrated, 52 pages