Israel Levitan
Encyclopedia
Israel Levitan was an American abstract expressionist sculptor, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts
. Renowned as a sculptor, Levitan also produced paintings, graphics and fine art works on paper.
The art critics of ARTnews
selected his 1959 exhibition at the Barone Gallery in New York City, as one of the 10 best one-man exhibitions of the year along with Pablo Picasso
, Hans Hofmann
and Willem de Kooning
. After WWII Levitan was involved in the New York art community, and participated in numerous exhibitions.
, Canada
and Mexico
. During his travels he lived for a time with Montana's Blackfoot
Native Americans. In 1934 Levitan settled in Detroit, Michigan
where he took a job as an auto worker. While living in Detroit, Levitan became interested in boxing and with union sponsorship, became Michigan State Amateur Welterweight
Boxing Champion under the pseudonym Jack Myers.
In 1939 after a successful career in boxing, Levitan began to study art at the Chicago Art Institute, but his studies were interrupted by World War II
. He joined the service as a medical corpsman in the South Pacific and became interested in physical thereapy. After the war, Levitan moved to New York. He first studied with Amedee Ozenfant
. Over the next three years, he studied with abstract expressionist painter Hans Hofmann
where he met his wife, Idee, a painter and designer.
Hofmann, recognizing the three-dimensional aspects of Levitan’s paintings, suggested that Levitan experiment with sculpture. Hoffman set out to find an appropriate teacher for his protégée and shortly thereafter Levitan commenced sculpture studies at the atelier of the French master Ossip Zadkine
in Paris from 1950-51.
After returning to New York, Levitan set up a studio on East 9th Street and was quickly assimilated into the art scene, eventually becoming Vice President of the American Abstract Artists
http://www.americanabstractartists.org group. He exhibited his work in the Tenth Street galleries
, along with such contemporaries as Gabriel Kohn, Raoul Hague, Sidney Geist, and Louise Nevelson. Unlike most of the artists who worked in wood during the fifties, Levitan had been a painter for many years (since 1938).
, the Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art
.
Levitan's work has been shown at numerous museums, including the Musee d’Art Moderne, the Museum of Modern Art
, the Brooklyn Museum
, the Riverside Museum
, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts, the Detroit Art Institute, Galerie Claude Bernard, the Guild Hall Museum, the Phillips Andover Academy, the Philadelphia Museum of Art
, the Ohio State University
, the Trica Kalis Gallery, the Tanager Gallery, the Stable Gallery and many others in New York City.
Levitan's bird flight-themed sculpture "Enrapture" was featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art
's 'sculpture annual' in 1952. Additionally, upon New York City's Barone Gallery reopening at a new Madison Avenue location in 1957 it featured an exhibition of Giuseppe Guerreschi paintings and Levitan's sculptures. The New York Times reviewed the exhibition and praised Levitan's works, stating that "one of the best pieces in the show is a dancer's torso in a warm-colored wood in which the artist has captured well the thrust of a dancer's body."
; and in private collections throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. In addition to these collections he also designed a large 45 foot abstract sculptured ceiling for the Chapel of the Interchurch Center in New York City. The carved plaster ceiling features 1,000 lucite disks through which light is projected thus providing a night canopy appearance. Levitan illustrated at least one book named, On Waking Up: Notes From One Searcher to Another
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
. Renowned as a sculptor, Levitan also produced paintings, graphics and fine art works on paper.
The art critics of ARTnews
ARTnews
ARTnews is an arts magazine based in New York, founded by James Clarence Hyde in 1902 as Hyde’s Weekly Art News. It is published 11 times a year.ARTnews covers all art, from ancient to Post-modernism...
selected his 1959 exhibition at the Barone Gallery in New York City, as one of the 10 best one-man exhibitions of the year along with Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter.-Biography:Hofmann was born in Weißenburg, Bavaria on March 21, 1880, the son of Theodor and Franziska Hofmann. When he was six he moved with his family to Munich...
and Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
. After WWII Levitan was involved in the New York art community, and participated in numerous exhibitions.
Biography
Levitan left home at an early age to travel around the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. During his travels he lived for a time with Montana's Blackfoot
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
Native Americans. In 1934 Levitan settled in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
where he took a job as an auto worker. While living in Detroit, Levitan became interested in boxing and with union sponsorship, became Michigan State Amateur Welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
Boxing Champion under the pseudonym Jack Myers.
In 1939 after a successful career in boxing, Levitan began to study art at the Chicago Art Institute, but his studies were interrupted by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He joined the service as a medical corpsman in the South Pacific and became interested in physical thereapy. After the war, Levitan moved to New York. He first studied with Amedee Ozenfant
Amédée Ozenfant
Amédée Ozenfant was a French cubist painter.He was born into a bourgeois family in Saint-Quentin, Aisne and was educated at Dominican colleges in Saint-Sébastien...
. Over the next three years, he studied with abstract expressionist painter Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter.-Biography:Hofmann was born in Weißenburg, Bavaria on March 21, 1880, the son of Theodor and Franziska Hofmann. When he was six he moved with his family to Munich...
where he met his wife, Idee, a painter and designer.
Hofmann, recognizing the three-dimensional aspects of Levitan’s paintings, suggested that Levitan experiment with sculpture. Hoffman set out to find an appropriate teacher for his protégée and shortly thereafter Levitan commenced sculpture studies at the atelier of the French master Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine was a Belarusian-born artist who lived in France. He is primarily known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs.-Early years and career:...
in Paris from 1950-51.
After returning to New York, Levitan set up a studio on East 9th Street and was quickly assimilated into the art scene, eventually becoming Vice President of the American Abstract Artists
American Abstract Artists
American Abstract Artists was formed in 1936 in New York City, to promote and foster public understanding of abstract art. American Abstract Artists exhibitions, publications, and lectures helped to establish the organization as a major forum for the exchange and discussion of ideas, and for...
http://www.americanabstractartists.org group. He exhibited his work in the Tenth Street galleries
Tenth street galleries
The Tenth Street galleries was a collective term for the co-operative galleries that operated mainly in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York in the 1950s and 1960s. The galleries were artist run and generally operated on very low budgets, often without any staff. Some artists became members...
, along with such contemporaries as Gabriel Kohn, Raoul Hague, Sidney Geist, and Louise Nevelson. Unlike most of the artists who worked in wood during the fifties, Levitan had been a painter for many years (since 1938).
Exhibitions
Levitan had one-man shows at the Artists' Gallery, the Wayhe Gallery, the Barone Gallery and the Grand Central Moderns all in New York City; at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, the Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is an art museum located at 1130 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara, California.It was founded in 1941 and currently ranks amongst the top 10 regional art museums in the United States . It is home to both permanent and special collections, the former of which...
.
Levitan's work has been shown at numerous museums, including the Musee d’Art Moderne, the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, the Riverside Museum
Riverside Museum
The Riverside Museum is a new development for the Glasgow Museum of Transport, completed on 20 June 2011, at Pointhouse Quay in the Glasgow Harbour regeneration district of Glasgow, Scotland. The next day it opened to the public.-Concept and design:...
, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts, the Detroit Art Institute, Galerie Claude Bernard, the Guild Hall Museum, the Phillips Andover Academy, the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
, the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, the Trica Kalis Gallery, the Tanager Gallery, the Stable Gallery and many others in New York City.
Levitan's bird flight-themed sculpture "Enrapture" was featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
's 'sculpture annual' in 1952. Additionally, upon New York City's Barone Gallery reopening at a new Madison Avenue location in 1957 it featured an exhibition of Giuseppe Guerreschi paintings and Levitan's sculptures. The New York Times reviewed the exhibition and praised Levitan's works, stating that "one of the best pieces in the show is a dancer's torso in a warm-colored wood in which the artist has captured well the thrust of a dancer's body."
Collections
Levitan works are in the permanent collections of museums, including the Guild Hall Museum and the Santa Barbara Museum of ArtSanta Barbara Museum of Art
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is an art museum located at 1130 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara, California.It was founded in 1941 and currently ranks amongst the top 10 regional art museums in the United States . It is home to both permanent and special collections, the former of which...
; and in private collections throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. In addition to these collections he also designed a large 45 foot abstract sculptured ceiling for the Chapel of the Interchurch Center in New York City. The carved plaster ceiling features 1,000 lucite disks through which light is projected thus providing a night canopy appearance. Levitan illustrated at least one book named, On Waking Up: Notes From One Searcher to Another