Wallace Putnam 1899-1989

Wallace Putnam (1899-1989) first came to the attention of the New York art world in 1936 with a large assemblage provocatively entitled Agog, which was prominently displayed in the entrance way to Fantastic Art Dada and Surrealism, an important and celebrated exhibition organized by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., for The Museum of Modern Art. Although Putnam was labeled a Dadaist, he was actually a dedicated and highly innovative painter, who went on to create a large body of realist work–the human figure, birds, animals, landscapes, etc.–touched with elements of abstraction that serve to distinguished it from the work of his contemporaries. His approach and style are comparable to that of Milton Avery, a lifelong friend and colleague. Putnam’s paintings were shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Neuberger Museum, and by some of New York’s leading art dealers, among them Betty Parsons and Lerner-Heller. His paintings are included in many important private collections, as well as in The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and at the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut. This is the first book on Putnam, who lived and worked in New York City and Westchester County (Yo