Bold Strokes contains 37 works of art from the last half of the twentieth century and captures the breadth of modern abstraction. It includes paintings by artists synonymous with the first generation of Abstract Expressionism: Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, and Robert Motherwell. Large paintings from the early sixties by Theodoros Stamos, Jack Tworkov, Morris Louis, and Jules Olitski, display abstraction’s simultaneous embrace of both emphatic brushwork and no brushwork at all. Artists representing later manifestations of the style include among others Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell, Jean Dubuffet, and Gerhard Richter. A major focus of the exhibition is Frank Stella, whose 13 works of art exhibit his far-ranging exploration of abstraction.

Most of the works of art share a single characteristic: large size. Other similarities are more elusive. While some canvases are painted in bold strokes and aggressive colors, other images are created with thin stains that seem to hover above the surface. Rigid geometric forms stand side by side with riotously convoluted lines and shapes. Media choice stretches from straightforward oil on canvas to computerized smoke rings. Together they show the full range of abstract art--the 20th-century’s defining artistic movement.

The exhibition is drawn from the significant holdings of The Haskell Company, an international design and construction company with headquarters in Jacksonville and regional offices in Dallas, Los Angeles and Raleigh, as well as from the personal collection of company chairman Preston Haskell. The emphasis on Stella, both in the exhibition and in the Haskell Collection (which includes over three dozen of his works), reveals the collector’s passion for this artist. Within Stella’s work Preston Haskell sees the mysterious allure inherent in art that does not "give up all its secrets in a single look."

Guest curator Dr. Kahren Arbitman says of the exhibition, "I selected works from the Haskell Collection that reveal just how broad and inclusive the banner of abstraction really is. Frank Stella alone puts on quite a tutorial. Over 30 years, he makes a remarkable artistic evolution from straightforward geometric prints to complex, seemingly irrational, mixed-media assemblages."