Adolph Gottlieb: Sculptor offers a look at a largely uncharted aspect of the
career of one of the most highly influential thinkers and artists of the 20th
century. This exhibition pairs Gottlieb’s little-known sculptures with
late-career paintings that illustrate his interest in gravity, suspension and
motion.
A first-generation abstract expressionist
painter, Adolph Gottlieb made art that was central to the development of
mid-twentieth century painting in America. Gottlieb was one of the few among his
colleagues to create both two- and three-dimensional works, and his sculpture is
has rarely been seen in the United States.
Born in New York City, he left high school to
study art in France and Germany. Upon his return in 1924, he attended classes at
the Art Students League. Gottlieb came of age at a time when European painting
reigned supreme and Paris was the center of the art world; however, this would
soon change as New York became the center with abstract expressionism’s rise in
popularity.
The paintings Gottlieb created in the 1940s
and 50s broke radically with the European art he had admired and opened many new
doors for other artists. His 50-year artistic career is marked by a continual
search for originality, independence and a desire to radically change American
art.
In New York, Gottlieb formed artistic
friendships with such luminaries as Mark Rothko, John Graham, Milton Avery,
Barnett Newman and David Smith. Throughout his career, Gottlieb founded various
artist groups and was actively involved in the art and progressive movements of
his time.
Among the aims of the abstract expressionist
painters was to tap into universal inner sources of energy and emotion to paint
in a way that reflected their individual psyches.
Sharing an interest in non-Western art forms,
Gottlieb and Rothko issued a kind of joint manifesto published in The New York
Times in 1943 as a response to a critic’s assessment of their recent work. Among
their claims they wrote, “To us art is an adventure into an unknown world, which
can be explored only by those willing to take the risks….We favor simple
expression of complex thought…. We are for flat forms because they destroy
illusion and reveal truth.”
In 1956 Gottlieb developed his signature
“burst” element, which he created by pouring paint onto a flat canvas on the
floor and using a squeegee to push the paint out from the center. “I try,
through colors, forms and lines, to express intimate emotions.” stated
Gottlieb.
Although Gottlieb’s foray into sculpture was
brief, he created a body of work that challenged the distinction between
painting and sculpture. He used the tools he had developed throughout his long
painting career — touch, visual balance, surface quality and more — to make his
sculptures, like his paintings, become a vehicle for emotional expression.
He began with small, cut-and-painted
cardboard maquettes, or study models, which he converted into templates for
metal sculptures. Gottlieb used the templates to cut and weld metal in his
studio and then finished the sculptures by hand painting them.
The Gottlieb Foundation has organized the
exhibition, which includes 12 table-top sculptures and 10 maquettes, as well as
three of the templates for the sculptures. Seven major paintings and two
monotypes from the 1960s and 1970s will also be included in the
exhibition.
Constantly challenging himself to push
forward with his art, when he began making sculpture, Gottlieb claimed he felt
like “a young sculptor, just beginning.”
Although Gottlieb’s foray into sculpture was
brief, he created a body of work that challenged the distinction between
painting and sculpture. He used the tools he had developed throughout his long
painting career—touch, visual balance, surface quality, and more—to make his
sculptures, like his paintings, become a vehicle for emotional expression. “I
feel a necessity for making the particular colors that I use, or the particular
shapes, carry the burden of everything that I want to express, and all has to be
concentrated within these few elements.”
The use of the most essential artistic forms
in both Gottlieb’s paintings and sculptures demonstrates his understanding and
mastery of the subtleties of his media. The simplicity of the elements Gottlieb
used meanwhile belies the complexity of his art.
Viewing Gottlieb’s three-dimensional
expression in direct relationship with his paintings offers exciting revelations
about the evolution of his shapes and composition. The sculptures animate the
transcendental quality of Gottlieb’s paintings in new ways.
Akron Art Museum 27.10.2012 - 17.02.2013
Website : Akron Art Museum
Website : Akron
FIC123.BE een website met info en cultuur.
