One of the clear trends visible in last year’s auction data is a renewed interest in abstract painting. Bidders are pursuing a range of overlooked artists from the 1940s and 1950s. Into that trend, David Zwirner Gallery has opened a new show, Roma New York, 1953-64. The exhibition more than 50 works by 23 different artists highlights the connection between some of the giants of mid-century art like Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Franz Kline and Cy Twombly , as well as lesser known names like Conrad Marca-Relli, and a group of Italian artists in Rome like Carla Accardi, Afro, Alberto Burri, Piero Dorazio, Luigi Boille, Gastone Novelli, Jannis Kounellis and Mario Schifano. The show is filled with discoveries. That may be why one obsessive gallery-goer on Instagram called it, “the most magnificent gallery show in New York right now.” In this podcast, the show’s curator David Leiber, who is also a partner at David Zwirner Gallery, explains the origins of the show and what he hopes to it will provoke.

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