opinion
An exciting exhibition of Myron Stout’s early charcoal drawings is currently on view at Peter Freeman Inc. in the SoHo district of NYC, running from January 16th to March 1st, 2025. This collection of approximately 35 works from the late 1940s and early 1950s offers a glimpse into the evolution of Stout’s personal style as he shifted toward reductive geometric abstraction. Positioned within the broader context of mid-20th-century abstraction, these drawings mark a bold departure from the era’s dominant trends, which often incorporated symbolic, gestural and representational elements.
Subscribe to the Art Spiel Weekly Newsletter. It Matters to us!
SUBSCRIBE HERE
Placing Myron Stout within the broader context of twentieth-century painting is challenging because his work was so singular and ahead of its time. In many ways, he was pushing boundaries in a minimalist direction that wouldn’t fully gain traction until at least a decade later. Scholars often pre-date lineage comparisons between Stout and artists like Constantin Brâncuși and Piet Mondrian, and it’s easy to see why: all three shared a deep focus on form and simplicity. But while Stout’s work shares thematic concerns with these artists, his approach was undeniably unique. Rather his graduated approach into the 1950’s became a rigorous rejection of expressive abstraction’s reliance on subjective symbolism, focusing instead on the purity of form, material handling, and spatial relationships.
One might also assert that Stout was also influenced from an earlier decade by the spirit of the Bauhaus, even though he wasn’t really interested in its design-driven ethos. While Bauhaus artists worked across multiple disciplines, including architecture and design, Stout focused on painting and drawing that also shared this conceptual thread that further emphasized simplicity of form. While the Bauhaus aimed to unite art and function, Stout pursued a more refined, purer abstraction, focusing on connections that resonated on a visceral level. This direct approach allowed Stout to carve out a space for a deeper intellectual and material engagement with abstraction—one that positioned geometry and minimal forms as essential tools for exploring spatial reality.
As evidenced by the progression of drawings in this exhibition, Stout’s work systematically distills abstraction to its most basic elements—straight lines, geometric forms, and controlled compositions. In contrast to the swirling, free-flowing forms of gestural abstraction at the time, Stout’s work engages with static, non-representational forms that have no other meaning than the form itself.
Aligning with the broader movement toward non-representational forms, his interest wasn’t simply in abstraction itself; rather, he sought a deeper, almost spiritual connection to form. This impulse, this very important finding, would act as a precursor to what would become a defining pursuit— eventually leading him toward geometric abstraction in his drawings and the later biomorphic compositions of his mid-career black and white paintings.
While it’s well known that Stout’s black-and-white compositions were influenced by his fascination with Greek tragedies Aeschylus and Sophocles, the full implications of this connection have never been fully explored. Greek tragedies, with their inherent philosophical dualities—light vs. dark, chaos vs. order, and life vs. death, are concepts that serve as an apt backdrop for understanding Stout’s work. The stark contrast of black charcoal on white paper visually amplifies these themes, mirroring the existential struggles and dramatic tensions central to ancient Greek drama. Like the characters in these tragedies, trapped in conflicts beyond their control, Stout’s drawings convey a similar tension between opposing forces, distilled into a pared-down visual language. In these early works, Stout captures not only the philosophical weight and stark resolution found in Greek tragedies but also suggests that, for him, abstraction was not merely a formal exploration—it was a means of engaging with profound, universal themes.
Stout’s handling of materials shows a kind of priestly reverence, where the act of creation was not just about making images but about an ongoing exploration of the materials themselves. This reverence suggests a deep, almost sacred respect for the process, as if Stout engaged with his tools and medium with the solemnity and devotion typically associated with a religious ritual. His focus wasn’t just on the final image, but on how surfaces interacted with light and how the act of drawing became central to his work. By varying the pressure of his charcoal, he was able to create rich visual textures and depth, unlocking a wide range of tonalities that added to the layered complexity of the work. By allowing process marks to remain upon the white ground, Stout signaled an openness to the materials themselves, embracing the imperfections and traces of the creative process as integral to the work’s meaning. These marks, rather than being hidden or erased, became part of the composition, highlighting the act of making as an essential aspect of the final image. This approach further emphasized the direct connection between creation and materiality, where the process was as much a part of the artwork’s emotional impact as the finished form.
These drawings focus not just on composition but on how the structure itself functions, the relationships between forms, and their visual impact. Stout used lines, rectangles, and squares as his primary language, allowing their presence to speak for itself, without needing external interpretation. His work asserts a simple truth: that simple forms carry an inherent order and logic, capable of revealing insights into human perception. When I say Stout was exploring perception, I mean that his focus was on how we see and experience form itself. In this regard, these drawings may be conceived as “open-ended”, in that they invite the viewer to engage with space and shape without being led by symbolic meanings. Stout was more interested in how forms interacted with each other but also with how they interacted with the viewer as well. In this way, his work was process-driven, less concerned with creating an idealization of form, and more focused on the act of creation. By exploring how shapes relate on a flat surface, Stout generated a tension where spatial relationships became central to the viewer’s experience of the work itself.
Stout’s work sought precision within a controlled environment where geometry and space coexist almost scientifically. Philosophically, by stripping away unnecessary complexity, he aimed to reveal an underlying order. His drawings don’t suggest a fixed meaning; they create space for unconscious, archetypal material to emerge. By “archetypal,” we mean representations of an ideal presence beyond our normal space-time continuum, as opposed to the archetype itself. This speaks to the essence of abstract art, not just logical communication but a more primordial channel of human experience. Given Stout’s deep abstraction, his work likely taps into Carl Jung’s collective unconscious—the universal patterns and psychic structures shared by all humans. Even if unintentional, his geometric purity and organic forms evoke primal, instinctual responses, creating a psychic space where viewers connect intuitively. His art, in essence, acts as a specialized mirror, not reflecting the external world but the viewer’s inner landscape. While Stout may not have consciously intended to invoke these archetypal associations, his formal choices opened a space for emotional and instinctive responses, inviting viewers to access deeper, universal realms of the unconscious.
In summary, Myron Stout’s early charcoal drawings on view at Peter Freeman Inc. represent a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution, offering a glimpse into his transition toward reductive geometric abstraction. This collection highlights Stout’s unique approach to form, space, and material as he distanced himself from the expressive abstraction that dominated his era. Influenced by the philosophical dualities found in Greek tragedies, Stout’s work engages with universal themes of order and chaos, light and dark, positive and negative. His precise handling of charcoal, embracing the imperfections of the creative process, emphasizes the importance of materiality and the act of creation itself. These works challenge viewers to engage with the forms on a deep, intuitive level, tapping into the collective unconscious and inviting emotional responses that transcend literal meaning. Through his process-driven approach, Stout’s drawings reveal a profound exploration of perception and spatial relationships, positioning abstraction as a tool not only for formal experimentation but also for a deeper connection to the human experience.
All photo courtesy of Peter Freeman, Inc., New York / Paris
Make your tax-deductible donation today and help Art Spiel continue to thrive. DONATE
Myron Stout at Peter Freeman, Inc. Gallery
Charcoal Drawings
16 January – 1 March 2025
About the writer: Doug Navarra is a visual artist who currently lives in the Hudson Valley of New York State.