Old Masters and Postmodernists Juxtaposed in Zwirner & Wirth's 'Old School' Exhibition

From June 27 to August 31, Zwirner & Wirth in New York City presented 'Old School,' an exhibition pairing sixteenth- and seventeenth-century paintings with contemporary works. Nearly thirty pieces, including landscapes, still lifes, and figure paintings, were displayed on red walls, organized by thematic and stylistic connections. Old masters like Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Jacob van Swanenburgh, Caesar Boëtius van Everdingen, and Lucas Cranach were featured alongside postmodern artists such as Hilary Harkness, Anj Smith, Michael Borremans, Richard Wathen, Glenn Brown, Elizabeth Peyton, Karen Kilimnik, Djordje Ozbolt, John Currin, and Julie Heffernan. The show highlighted contrasts in technique and intent, with Cranach's madonna and child panel noted as a masterpiece that overshadowed others. While some contemporary works, like Currin's and Heffernan's, were praised, others were critiqued for weak composition or enigmatic aims. The installation suggested reverence for historical art but often failed to distinguish between greater and lesser efforts, reflecting postmodernism's ambivalent relationship with tradition. The exhibition aimed to explore artistic lineage but left questions about painting's ongoing possibilities.