Joop Sanders:
The Last Abstract Expressionist

A Retrospective Curated by Isca Greenfield-Sanders and Peter Halley

March 7 – July 19, 2025
Opening Reception March 7, from 6 – 8 pm

Joop Sanders
God Save the Queen, 1968
acrylic on canvas, 6 panels (installation variable)

The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation is very proud to present, The Last Abstract Expressionist, a retrospective of works by Joop Sanders, opening, Friday, March 7th with a reception from 6 – 8pm. 

Joop Sanders (1921–2023) was a young artist when he emigrated to New York City from Amsterdam before WWII. He briefly took classes with George Grosz at the Art Students League, befriended Elaine and Willem de Kooning, and became the youngest founding member of the artist group known as The Club. In addition to The Club, he was immersed in the abstract expressionist artworld that included Milton Resnick, Pat Passlof, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, Barnett Newman and many others who would continue to be friends and admirers of his work.

Sanders’ work in the legendary 9th Street Show of 1951 was singled out for praise in one of the few reviews of that exhibition.  He became an American citizen in 1955 and in 1960 had a solo exhibition as the first American Abstract Expressionist at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Sanders’ 4-year sojourn in Europe in the late 1950s, even while getting noticed by critics, resulted in his being overlooked by many of the historical records in the United States.  By the time he returned to New York City, the artworld was changing fast.

The energy of the 1950s did continue and offered opportunities for artists. Sanders showed with the Stuttman Gallery, had three one person exhibitions with the Bertha Schaefer Gallery on 57th Street, and later exhibited at the Landmark Gallery. In the 1980s he showed at Schlesinger-Boisanté and had his last solo exhibition in 1986 at the Alfred Kren Gallery. Sanders’ work has not been seen in New York City for nearly 40 years. 

The exhibition at the Foundation includes two 1945 portraits–one of Sanders by Elaine de Kooning and one of her by Sanders. Examples from the 1950s range from abstract expressionist paintings to important collages. Sanders’ work in the late 50s opens up to larger shapes of swirling color, and into the 60s his paintings become more minimal and hard edge. Works from the late 60s show that Sanders also experimented with what he termed “variables”, which were a series of panels that could be hung in different combinations. In describing Sanders’ last major oil painting, artist Peter Halley states, “Danaë is a complex painting that is the product of a lifetime of unceasing creative exploration.”

Sanders started teaching part-time at Cooper Union and Pratt in the early 1960s and eventually became a full-time tenured professor at SUNY New Paltz.  His last home and studio were in Lake Peekskill, NY where he died at the age of 101. 

In his 2023 obituary, Artforum quoted art critic Joseph Masheck’s New York Times description of Joop Sanders, “It is nice to see somebody stick to his guns and have the world catch up.” 

A comprehensive catalog accompanies the exhibition with essays by artist, publisher and teacher Peter Halley and Pulitzer Prize writers Annalyn Swan and Mark Stevens will soon be available on our website and onsite.