Jack Tworkov
Encyclopedia
Jack Tworkov was a Polish
born American
abstract expressionist
painter.
He was born in Biała Podlaska, Russian Empire
and immigrated to the United States
in 1913 with his mother and younger sister who would later become known as Janice Biala
. With the intent to become a writer, Tworkov studied at Columbia University
, but after experiencing the paintings by Cézanne and Matisse for the first time in early 1921, he became determined to study art and did so at the National Academy of Design
and Art Students League of New York
.
During the Depression Era, Tworkov met Willem de Kooning
, among others, and together with a group of abstract expressionists including Arshile Gorky
, Mark Rothko
and Jackson Pollock
, founded the New York School
. During his lifetime, Tworkov had taught at several institutions, including the American University
, Black Mountain College
, Queens College, Pratt Institute
, University of Minnesota
, Columbia University
, and Yale University
where he was the Chairman of the Art Department from 1963 - 1969. As Chairman of the Art Department at Yale, Tworkov invited known artists to teach, including Al Held
, Knox Martin
, George Wardlaw, and Bernard Chaet. Among the students of that era were Chuck Close
, Jennifer Bartlett
, Richard Serra
, Nancy Graves
, Rackstraw Downes
, and Brice Marden
.
Tworkov is regarded as an important and influential artist, along with de Kooning
, Philip Guston
, Franz Kline
, and Jackson Pollock
, whose gestural paintings of the early 1950s formed the basis for the abstract expressionist movement in America. Major work from this period is characterized by the use of gestural brush strokes in flame-like color. His work transitioned in during the mid-1960s. Straight lines and geometric patterns characterize his later art work.
Tworkov died in 1982 in Provincetown, Massachusetts
. He was 82.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
abstract expressionist
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
painter.
He was born in Biała Podlaska, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1913 with his mother and younger sister who would later become known as Janice Biala
Janice Biala
Janice Biala was a Polish-born American painter well regarded both in France and the United States for her paintings of intimate interiors, portraits of her famous friends, and the places she traveled. In 1930, on a trip to Paris, she met and fell in love with the English Novelist, Ford Madox Ford...
. With the intent to become a writer, Tworkov studied at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, but after experiencing the paintings by Cézanne and Matisse for the first time in early 1921, he became determined to study art and did so at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
and Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
.
During the Depression Era, Tworkov met Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, among others, and together with a group of abstract expressionists including Arshile Gorky
Arshile Gorky
Arshile Gorky was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian genocide.-Early life:...
, Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
and Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
, founded the New York School
New York School
The New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
. During his lifetime, Tworkov had taught at several institutions, including the American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
, Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College, a school founded in 1933 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, was a new kind of college in the United States in which the study of art was seen to be central to a liberal arts education, and in which John Dewey's principles of education played a major role...
, Queens College, Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
, University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
where he was the Chairman of the Art Department from 1963 - 1969. As Chairman of the Art Department at Yale, Tworkov invited known artists to teach, including Al Held
Al Held
Al Held was an American Abstract expressionist painter. He was particularly well known for his large scale Hard-edge paintings.-Background and education:...
, Knox Martin
Knox Martin
Knox Martin is an American painter, sculptor and muralist.Born in 1923 in Barranquilla, Colombia, he studied at the Art Students League of New York from 1946 till 1950. He is one of the leading members of New York School - a group of artists and writers. He lives and works in New York City."Art is...
, George Wardlaw, and Bernard Chaet. Among the students of that era were Chuck Close
Chuck Close
Charles Thomas "Chuck" Close is an American painter and photographer who achieved fame as a photorealist, through his massive-scale portraits...
, Jennifer Bartlett
Jennifer Bartlett
Jennifer Losch Bartlett is an American artist. She is best-known for paintings combining abstract and representational styles.-Education:...
, Richard Serra
Richard Serra
Richard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large-scale assemblies of sheet metal. Serra was involved in the Process Art Movement.-Early life and education:...
, Nancy Graves
Nancy Graves
Nancy Graves was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and sometime-filmmaker known for her focus on natural phenomena like camels or maps of the moon...
, Rackstraw Downes
Rackstraw Downes
Rackstraw Downes is a British-born realist painter and author. His oil paintings are notable for their meticulous detail accumulated during months of plein-air sessions, depictions of industry and the environment, and elongated compositions with complex perspective.-Education:Born Rodney Harry...
, and Brice Marden
Brice Marden
Brice Marden , is an American artist, generally described as Minimalist, although his work defies specific categorization. He lives in New York and Eagles Mere.Marden is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery.-Life:...
.
Tworkov is regarded as an important and influential artist, along with de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, Philip Guston
Philip Guston
Philip Guston was a notable painter and printmaker in the New York School, which included many of the Abstract expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning...
, Franz Kline
Franz Kline
Franz Jozef Kline was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement centered around New York in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and attended Girard College, an academy in Philadelphia for fatherless boys...
, and Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
, whose gestural paintings of the early 1950s formed the basis for the abstract expressionist movement in America. Major work from this period is characterized by the use of gestural brush strokes in flame-like color. His work transitioned in during the mid-1960s. Straight lines and geometric patterns characterize his later art work.
Tworkov died in 1982 in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
. He was 82.
Catalogs
- Edward Bryant; Jack Tworkov: Whitney Museum of American Art Publisher: Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American ArtThe 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...
, NY ©1964. OCLC: 7607995 - Jack Tworkov; Andrew Forge; Solomon R. Guggenheim MuseumSolomon R. Guggenheim MuseumThe Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
, Jack Tworkov, Fifteen Years of Painting : Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Publisher: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, NY 1982. ISBN 0892070331 9780892070336 - Richard Armstrong, Jack Tworkov : paintings 1928-1982 Publisher: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA © 1987. ISBN 0-943836-08-5
- Elizabeth Frank; Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY Jack Tworkov: Paintings from 1930 to 1981 © 1991.
- Alston Conley; Boston College Museum of Art, Chestnut Hill, MA; Jack Tworkov 1935-1982: An Abstract Expressionist Inventing Form © 1994
- Jack Tworkov; Mitchell-Innes & Nash and Ameringer Howard Yohe Gallery, Jack Tworkov : red, white and blue Publisher: Mitchell-Innes & Nash : Ameringer/Howard/Yohe, 2002. ISBN 0971384444 9780971384446
- Debra Bricker Balken; Valerie Carberry Gallery, Chicago, IL Jack Tworkov: Early Paintings and Drawings © 2006. ISBN 0-9777686-0-0
See also
- Art movementArt movementAn art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years...
- Abstract expressionismAbstract expressionismAbstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
- New York SchoolNew York SchoolThe New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
- Action paintingAction paintingAction painting sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied...
- ExpressionismExpressionismExpressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...