Art History Lecture Series | No, your toddler could not have done that: A Brief History of Abstraction
Much of twentieth-century art centers on a deliberate move away from traditional representation of the visual world. This shift gained momentum in the 1910s, and by mid-century, abstraction had become the dominant visual language of serious modern art with the rise of Abstract Expressionism in New York. This lecture will trace the arc of abstraction through the early twentieth century, providing a historic backdrop for Jonathan Lasker: Drawings and Studies, on view at the Frye through August 2026, which demonstrates how one contemporary artist takes abstraction in a new direction.
About the Art History Lecture Series
The Frye Art Museum presents a new season of lectures by art historian Rebecca Albiani, exploring masterpieces of world art, and offering pivotal context to deepen understanding of works on view at the Frye.
About the Instructor
Rebecca Albiani has been an arts lecturer at the Frye Art Museum since 1997. A former Graduate Lecturing Fellow at the National Gallery in Washington D.C., and a Fulbright Scholar in Venice, she holds an MA from Stanford University and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Art History Lecture Series | No, your toddler could not have done that: A Brief History of Abstraction
Jonathan Lasker. The Discontinuous Self, 2000. Oil on linen. 75 x 100 in. Courtesy the artist, Greene Naftali, Thaddaeus Ropac and Timothy Taylor
April 9, 2026
11:30 am–12:30 pm
704 Terry Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104