Abstract Expressionism

The years from 1953-1956 marked a crucial transitional period in Dusti Bongé’s work as she moved from her Surrealist explorations into fully abstract work. All representational traces disappeared and were replaced with bold colors, broad strokes, strong gestures, and richly textured paint surfaces.

By 1954 Bongé had embraced the bold, gestural, expressionist painting that dominated American art of the period. Her work exhibited the quintessential spontaneous and improvisational hallmarks of Abstract Expressionism (AbEx), with its rich array of colors, use of large brushes and sweeping gestural marks. Indeed, Abstract Expressionism ultimately became the artistic style in which she found her greatest satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the Betty Parsons Gallery had opened in New York in 1946. Parsons played a major role in the early promotion of Abstract Expressionism in the art world at large. Bongé forged a lifelong relationship with Parsons, who would represent her for many years. Parsons gave Bongé her first solo show in April 1956. Their professional association lasted from 1946 to 1975, when Bongé had her final show at the Gallery.

Bongé continued to work in her Abstract Expressionist style throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. During these years she experimented with a somewhat darker palette, with three-dimensional paintings, and with “Pictures for Windows” painted on fiberglass.