Films Adolph Gottlieb and the Irascible Eighteen In 1950, The Metropolitan Museum of Art held an exhibition titled American Painting Today. A core group of Abstract Expressionists, led by Adolph Gottlieb and including Mark Rothko, Louise Bourgeois, Jackson Pollock, and others, protested the exhibition selection committee's decision to exclude "advanced art," writing a now-famous letter to the director of the museum as a statement of their position.Here's the story of that fabled letter and a resulting photograph of “The Irascibles,” as told by Sanford Hirsch, Executive Director of the (opens in a new window) Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation, and Dr. Kent Minturn. Journal View All News Announcing The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant Recipients Jun 07, 2024 Essays Rothko and Gottlieb discuss "The Portrait and the Modern Artist" on WNYC's Art in New York Oct 18, 2023 Essays The Monotypes of Adolph Gottlieb Aug 31, 2022 Essays Art Basel Hong Kong: A Closer Look Mar 18, 2020 Films — Adolph Gottlieb and the Irascible Eighteen, Apr 4, 2019