Art Term

New figuration

New figuration is a blanket term referring to the revival of figurative art in Europe and America in the 1960s following a period dominated by abstraction

R.B. Kitaj
Isaac Babel Riding with Budyonny (1962)
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© The estate of R. B. Kitaj

David Hockney
Man in Shower in Beverly Hills (1964)
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© David Hockney

Leon Golub
Wounded Sphinx (1965)
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© DACS, London and VAGA, New York 2024

The term first used by the French critic Michel Ragon, sometimes argued that the move back to figuration occurred during an era of political and social turbulence in Europe and America.

Artists David Hockney and Leon Golub can be seen as examples of new figuration.

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