John Button (artist)
Encyclopedia
John Button was an American artist, well-known for his city-scapes. Educated at the University of California, Berkeley
then moved to New York City in the early 1950s. He became friends with Fairfield Porter
and Frank O'Hara
and assumed his part in the New York School of Painters and Poets.
Amidst the frenzy of Abstract Expressionism
, Button remained true to his interest in realism, and is now most commonly associated with such New York School artists as Fairfield Porter
, Jane Freilicher, and Alex Katz
. John Button was a fine draftsman and drew from life models throughout his career. However, little known are his sketches of male nudes – studio models from the School of Visual Arts
, where Button taught, as well as personal acquaintances.
, New York City;
Museum of Modern Art
, New York City;
Columbia University
, New York City;
Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York City;
Whitney Museum of American Art
, New York;
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York;
Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York;
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
, Washington, DC;
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
, San Francisco;
Oakland Museum, Oakland, California;
Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut;
Colby College, Colby, Maine;
Portland Museum of Art
, Portland, Maine;
Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire;
Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey;
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina;
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
, Salt Lake City, Utah;
Utah State University, Logan, Utah;
Rahr-West Art Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin;
Snite Museum of Art
, University of Notre Dame, Indiana;
Tampa Museum of Art
, Tampa, Florida;
Jersey City Museum, New Jersey;
Long Island Museum, Stony Brook, New York;
New York Public Library
, New York City;
Museum of the City of New York
, New York City;
Rhode Island School of Design
, Providence, Rhode Island;
St. Lawrence University, New York;
University of Rochester, New York
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
then moved to New York City in the early 1950s. He became friends with Fairfield Porter
Fairfield Porter
Fairfield Porter was an American painter and art critic. He was the brother of photographer Eliot Porter and the brother-in-law of federal Reclamation Commissioner Michael W. Straus....
and Frank O'Hara
Frank O'Hara
Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara was an American writer, poet and art critic. He was a member of the New York School of poetry.-Life:...
and assumed his part in the New York School of Painters and Poets.
Amidst the frenzy of Abstract Expressionism
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...
, Button remained true to his interest in realism, and is now most commonly associated with such New York School artists as Fairfield Porter
Fairfield Porter
Fairfield Porter was an American painter and art critic. He was the brother of photographer Eliot Porter and the brother-in-law of federal Reclamation Commissioner Michael W. Straus....
, Jane Freilicher, and Alex Katz
Alex Katz
Alex Katz is an American figurative artist associated with the Pop art movement. In particular, he is known for his paintings, sculptures, and prints and is represented by numerous galleries internationally.-Life and work:...
. John Button was a fine draftsman and drew from life models throughout his career. However, little known are his sketches of male nudes – studio models from the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
, where Button taught, as well as personal acquaintances.
Exhibitions
- 2009 "John Button, Reflections on Light," Bernhard Goldberg Fine Arts, East Hampton, NY
- 2007-08 "John Button (1929-1982): Paintings and Drawing from the Estate," ClampArt, New York City
- 1995 "Mexico 1958," Fischbach Gallery, New York City
- 1994-95 "The City: New York Visions 1900-1995," ACA Galleries, Lizan-Tops Gallery, East Hampton, New York
- 1994-95 "New York Realism Past and Present,"Odakyu Museum, Odakyu, Japan
- 1994-95 "New York Realism Past and Present," Kadoshima Dity Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
- 1994-95 "New York Realism Past and Present," Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan
- 1994-95 "New York Realism Past and Present," The Museum of Art Kintetsu, Osaka, Japan
- 1994-95 "New York Realism Past and Present," Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, Fukushima, Japan
- 1994-95 "New York Realism Past and Present," Tampa Museum of Art Tampa, Florida
- 1994-95 "Male Desire," Mary Ryan Gallery New York
- 1993 "The Collection: Porter's Circle," Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York
- 1993 "Excellence in Watercolor," New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, New Jersey
- 1992 "Studies Enroute," Benton Gallery, Southampton, New York
- 1991 "John Button’s New York," Fischbach Gallery, New York City
- 1990 "John Button," Fischbach Gallery, New York City
- 1989-90 "John Button: Retrospective Exhibition," Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Jersey
- 1989-90 "John Button: Retrospective Exhibition,"Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford, Connecticut
- 1989-90 "John Button: Retrospective Exhibition," Rahr-West Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
- 1989-90 "John Button: Retrospective Exhibition," Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah
- 1988 "The Face of the Land," Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, Pennsylvania
- 1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection," Madison Art Center, Madison, Wisconsin
- 1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection," Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
- 1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection," Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
- 1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection," Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts
- 1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection," Akron Art MuseumAkron Art MuseumThe Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, USA.The museum first opened its doors on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library...
, Akron, Ohio - 1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection," San Francisco Museum of Modern ArtSan Francisco Museum of Modern ArtThe San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
, San Francisco, California - 1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection," DeCordova and Dana Museum and Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts
- 1986 "John Button: The Last Works," Fischbach Gallery, New York City
- 1985-86 "City Views: Panoramas to Particulars," CIGNA Museum and Art Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1984 "John Button: Paintings and Gouaches," Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, New York City
- 1984 "John Button: An American Painter," The College Gallery, Keane College, Union, New Jersey
- 1984 "Art and Friendship: A Tribute to Fairfield Porter," Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York
- 1982 "An Appreciation of Realism," Museum of Art, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York
- 1982 "Contemporary Realist Painting: A Selection, Museum of Fine Arts, BostonMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, Massachusetts - 1980 Fischbach Gallery, New York City
- 1979 "New York Now," Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
- 1978 Fischbach Gallery, New York City
- 1976 "A Selection of American Art: The Skowhegan School 1946-1976," Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts
- 1976 "America 1976," Department of the Interior at the Cororan Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- 1976 "John Button," Gallery of July and August, Woodstock, New York
- 1963-74 Kornblee Gallery, New York City
- 1973 "The Male Nude," Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York
- 1970 J.L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit
- 1969 "Contemporary Portraits," Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe 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...
, New York City - 1968 "Realism Now," Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, New York
- 1967 Franklin Siden Gallery, Detroit, Michigan
- 1965 "Eight Landscape Painters," The International Council of the Museum of Modern Art, New York
- 1965 "Eight Landscape Painters," Festival Dei Due Mondi di Spoleto, Italy
- 1962 "Selections from the ARt Lending Service," Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe 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...
, New York - 1955-59 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York City
- 1954-55 "Stable Annual," Stable Gallery New York
- 1952 "Annual Exhibition: Artist of Los Angeles and Vicinity," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
Public collections
Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, New York City;
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...
, New York City;
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...
, New York City;
Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York City;
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...
, New York;
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York;
Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, New York;
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
, Washington, DC;
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
, San Francisco;
Oakland Museum, Oakland, California;
Wadsworth Atheneum
Wadsworth Atheneum
The Wadsworth Atheneum is the oldest public art museum in the United States, with significant holdings of French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School landscapes, modernist masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as extensive holdings in early American furniture and...
Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut;
Colby College, Colby, Maine;
Portland Museum of Art
Portland Museum of Art
The Portland Museum of Art is an art museum in Portland, Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882, it is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District, and is the largest and oldest public art institution in the U.S...
, Portland, Maine;
Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire;
Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey;
Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina;
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is Utah's primary resource for culture and visual arts. It is located in Salt Lake City, Utah on the University of Utah campus near Rice–Eccles Stadium. Works of art are displayed on a rotating basis. It is a university and state art museum...
, Salt Lake City, Utah;
Utah State University, Logan, Utah;
Rahr-West Art Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin;
Snite Museum of Art
Snite Museum of Art
The Snite Museum of Art is a fine art museum on the University of Notre Dame campus, near South Bend, Indiana. It owns over 23,000 works which represent many principal world cultures and periods, with a focus on Western art history...
, University of Notre Dame, Indiana;
Tampa Museum of Art
Tampa Museum of Art
The Tampa Museum of Art is located in Downtown Tampa, Florida. The museum exhibits 20th-century fine art, as well as Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. It opened in 1979 on the banks of Hillsborough River.- Museum History :...
, Tampa, Florida;
Jersey City Museum, New Jersey;
Long Island Museum, Stony Brook, New York;
New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
, New York City;
Museum of the City of New York
Museum of the City of New York
The Museum of the City of New York is an art gallery and history museum founded in 1923 to present the history of New York City, USA and its people...
, New York City;
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
, Providence, Rhode Island;
St. Lawrence University, New York;
University of Rochester, New York