The American abstract painter Shirley Jaffe (1923–2016) led a productive, uncompromising, and individualistic artist’s life dedicated entirely to her work. Although her oeuvre testifies to a great need for control…

The American abstract painter Shirley Jaffe (1923–2016) led a productive, uncompromising, and individualistic artist’s life dedicated entirely to her work. Although her oeuvre testifies to a great need for control as well as to courage in the face of complexity, it remains playful, dynamic, and nimble. ‘Form as Experiment’ offers an appealing mix of assessments and testimonies by Jaffe’s contemporaries, alongside the latest art historical findings based on never-before-published documents from Jaffe’s estate. Contributions by Svetlana Alpers, Robert Kushner, Molly Warnock, and several others invite readers to adopt her headstrong, at times contradictory view of the world.