"My interest has been in developing further the plastic convictions
that have been evolving in my abstract paintings; so that a portrait,
while remaining a portrait, becomes in this sense an abstraction: the
idea of a person in its most intense and essential aspect." —Will Barnet, 1962

Will Barnett (1911 – …), much like Willem de Kooning and Alex Katz, has
approached painting through sustained exploration of the relationship
between abstract, geometric forms and the processes of perception. In
this book, which accompanied an exhibition of the same name at the
Palmer Museum of Art and the Alexandre Gallery, Patrick J. McGrady
examines the paintings, drawings, and prints Barnet made in the 1960s,
the decade when he portrayed his family and his earlier commitment to
pure abstraction.

As McGrady traces Barnet's development during this decisive period in
the artist's career, he shows how drawing became increasingly important
in the evolution of such major paintings as Mother and Child, The Blue
Robe, and Eden. In addition, McGrady provides a richly documented
discussion of critics' responses to the profound changes in Barnet's
art and Barnet's own commentary on his goals as an artist.

Will Barnet illustrates many of the 49 works in the 2003 exhibition and
includes a checklist of the exhibition as well as reproductions of
comparative works.