After rising to prominence in New York’s AbEx scene of the 1950s, Leslie devoted much of his career to honing a style of monumental figuration that was decades ahead of its time

Pearlstein, a classmate of Andy Warhol’s who similarly worked against the grain of the dominant Abstract Expressionist style of the time, remained committed to representation from the late 1950s onward

Plus, how long left of the good times in the New York auction world? And abstract Black figuration

Among a slew of shows celebrating 100 years since the artist’s birth, the National Gallery exhibition explores his enduring appeal as a new generation embrace figuration