Raymond Hendler
Encyclopedia
Raymond Hendler was a Philadelphia born action painter whose mature work began in the ferment of postwar Paris. Supported by the G.I. Bill, he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
, exhibited at the Musee D’Art Moderne and was one of the founding members of Galerie Huit (the first American cooperative gallery in Europe). Through association with André Breton
and his circle, Hendler was exposed to surrealism and its intended program - the liberation of the human spirit.
He credited his friend, the Australian sculptor, Robert Klippel
, with support at a crucial moment that led to a career-defining breakthrough; an activity that involved the use of the automatic and the unconscious, he would later refer to as “serious doodling and judicious scribbling.” His move to progressive, non-objective painting would lead to ostracism by many in the American art colony and engender a productive friendship with the French-Canadian tachist painter, Jean Paul Riopelle.
With his return from Paris in 1951, Hendler was introduced to the burgeoning New York art scene. There he met and befriended many of the important figures of an emerging vanguard. He was a voting member of the New York Artists Club from 1951 until its end in 1957. A close friendship with the painter, Franz Kline
, would significantly inform his work.
Throughout the fifties, he participated in numerous exhibitions including; “an American, one-man premiere,” at the Dublin Galleries in Philadelphia, “fresh from Paris” and historic invitationals at the Camino, March and Stable Galleries in New York. For the period of the 1960s he was represented by Rose Fried.
In 1962, for a one-man show at the Rose Fried Gallery, Franz Kline wrote in a forward for the exhibition catalogue, “Since first I saw Hendler’s paintings in 1952 they have developed into a larger simpler form arriving at a personally abstract image controlled within a painted space. The direct austere design and color complexes paint the image without undue nuances - with clarity and mature independence.”
In 1963, Hendler received the Longview Foundation Purchase Award, juried by Willem de Kooning
, Thomas Hess, Philip Guston
, Harold Rosenberg
and David Smith. He taught at the University of Minnesota
from 1968 until he retired, a full professor, in 1984. Having made several trips to the Hamptons to visit art world friends through the years; he relocated with his wife, the painter, Mary Rood Hendler, in 1986 - building a house in East Hampton’s Northwest Woods - where he lived and painted until his death in 1998.
Académie de la Grande Chaumière
The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France. The school was founded in 1902 by the Swiss Martha Stettler , who refused to teach the strict academic rules of painting of the École des Beaux-Arts. It opened the way to the "Art Indépendant"...
, exhibited at the Musee D’Art Moderne and was one of the founding members of Galerie Huit (the first American cooperative gallery in Europe). Through association with André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
and his circle, Hendler was exposed to surrealism and its intended program - the liberation of the human spirit.
He credited his friend, the Australian sculptor, Robert Klippel
Robert Klippel
Robert Klippel AO was an Australian constructivist sculptor and teacher. He is often described in contemporary art literature as Australia's greatest sculptor. Throughout his career he produced some 1,300 pieces of sculpture and approximately 5,000 drawings.-Biography:Klippel was born in Potts...
, with support at a crucial moment that led to a career-defining breakthrough; an activity that involved the use of the automatic and the unconscious, he would later refer to as “serious doodling and judicious scribbling.” His move to progressive, non-objective painting would lead to ostracism by many in the American art colony and engender a productive friendship with the French-Canadian tachist painter, Jean Paul Riopelle.
With his return from Paris in 1951, Hendler was introduced to the burgeoning New York art scene. There he met and befriended many of the important figures of an emerging vanguard. He was a voting member of the New York Artists Club from 1951 until its end in 1957. A close friendship with the painter, 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...
, would significantly inform his work.
Throughout the fifties, he participated in numerous exhibitions including; “an American, one-man premiere,” at the Dublin Galleries in Philadelphia, “fresh from Paris” and historic invitationals at the Camino, March and Stable Galleries in New York. For the period of the 1960s he was represented by Rose Fried.
In 1962, for a one-man show at the Rose Fried Gallery, Franz Kline wrote in a forward for the exhibition catalogue, “Since first I saw Hendler’s paintings in 1952 they have developed into a larger simpler form arriving at a personally abstract image controlled within a painted space. The direct austere design and color complexes paint the image without undue nuances - with clarity and mature independence.”
In 1963, Hendler received the Longview Foundation Purchase Award, juried by Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, Thomas Hess, 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...
, Harold Rosenberg
Harold Rosenberg
Harold Rosenberg was an American writer, educator, philosopher and art critic. He coined the term Action Painting in 1952 for what was later to be known as abstract expressionism. The term was first employed in Rosenberg's essay "American Action Painters" published in the December 1952 issue of...
and David Smith. He taught at the 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...
from 1968 until he retired, a full professor, in 1984. Having made several trips to the Hamptons to visit art world friends through the years; he relocated with his wife, the painter, Mary Rood Hendler, in 1986 - building a house in East Hampton’s Northwest Woods - where he lived and painted until his death in 1998.