McNeil speaks
of why he became interested in art; his early influences; becoming interested in modern art after attending lectures by Vaclav Vytlacil; meeting Arshile Gorky; the leading figures in modern art during the 1930s; his interest in Cézanne; studying with Jan Matulka and Hans Hofmann; his experiences with the WPA; the modern artists within the WPA; the American
Abstract Artists (A.A.A.); a group
of painters oriented to Paris called The Ten; how there was an anti-surrealism
attitude, and a surrealist would not have been permitted in A.A.A; what the A.A.A. constituted as
abstract art; a grouping within the A.A.A. called the Concretionists; his memories
of Léger; how he assesses the period
of the 1930s; the importance
of Cubism; what he thinks caused the decline
of A.A.A.; how he assesses the period
of the 1940s; his stance on form and the plastic values in art; his thoughts on various artists; the importance
of The Club; the antipathy to the School
of Paris after the war; how Impressionism was considered in the 40s and 50s; slides
of his paintings from 1937 to 1962, and shows how he developed as an artist; the problems
of abstract expressionism; organic and geometric form; the schisms in different art groups due to politics; his teaching techniques; why he feels modern painting declined after 1912; the quality
of A.A.A. works; stretching his canvases, and the sizes he uses; his recent works, and his approaches to painting.