When push comes to shove: Barnett Newman, abstraction, and the politics of 1968.

This essay examines how the volatile politics of the Vietnam War and protest movement, specifically as exemplified by the events surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention held in Chicago, penetrated the perceived exclusivity of the art establishment. With the work of the New York School artist Barnett Newman as case study, most importantly his Lace Curtain for Mayor Daley (1968), the relationship between politics and art is considered. Issues addressed include the perceived autonomy of modern art, the possibilities of abstraction, and the meaning of artistic agency at a transformative moment in American art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]