Hans Burkhardt
Encyclopedia
Hans Gustav Burkhardt was a Swiss American
abstract expressionist
.
, Switzerland
to New York
. He shared Arshile Gorky
's studio from 1929 to 1936. When he moved to Los Angeles in 1937, Burkhardt represented the most significant bridge between New York and Los Angeles in that his paintings of the 1930s are part of the genesis of American abstract expressionism. He brought with him many of the nascent ideas of abstract and abstract expressionist painting that had been swirling among New York's artists, foremost among them, Arshile Gorky and Willem de Kooning
. Working independently in Los Angeles, Burkhardt's experimental investigative approach allowed him to parallel, and in many instances anticipate, the development of modern and contemporary art in New York and Europe.
Burkhardt's ability to evoke compelling works of human empathy has led several of today's preeminent art historians and critics to regard many of his paintings to be among the major works of our time. for example, that the art he created in response to war – beginning with the Spanish Civil War
in the late 1930s and continuing through World War II
, Vietnam
and Desert Storm – represents a body of work unprecedented in the history of art. In his drawings, primarily through the use of the figure, has reflected the same richness of expressionism
and symbol
ism for which he is known in his paintings.
Hans Burkhardt retired as a professor emeritus from California State University, Northridge
after teaching there for ten years. Hans was a friend of the American Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Tobey
, who resided in Basel, Switzerland. Hans would often visit with Tobey in Basel.
His unique role as an important American painter is affirmed by the constant interest and continuing reassessment afforded his work.
In 1992, Burkhardt was honored as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Also in 1992, he established the Hans G. and Thordis W. Burkhardt Foundation.
In 1974, Hans Burkhardt said:
Swiss American
Swiss Americans are Americans of Swiss descent.There are several ethno-linguistic subgroups among Swiss Americans, including Swiss German-speaking, Swiss French-speaking, and Swiss Italian-speaking....
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...
.
Life and work
In 1924 he emigrated from BaselBasel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He shared 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:...
's studio from 1929 to 1936. When he moved to Los Angeles in 1937, Burkhardt represented the most significant bridge between New York and Los Angeles in that his paintings of the 1930s are part of the genesis of American abstract expressionism. He brought with him many of the nascent ideas of abstract and abstract expressionist painting that had been swirling among New York's artists, foremost among them, Arshile Gorky and Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
. Working independently in Los Angeles, Burkhardt's experimental investigative approach allowed him to parallel, and in many instances anticipate, the development of modern and contemporary art in New York and Europe.
Burkhardt's ability to evoke compelling works of human empathy has led several of today's preeminent art historians and critics to regard many of his paintings to be among the major works of our time. for example, that the art he created in response to war – beginning with the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in the late 1930s and continuing through 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...
, Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and Desert Storm – represents a body of work unprecedented in the history of art. In his drawings, primarily through the use of the figure, has reflected the same richness of expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism 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...
and symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism for which he is known in his paintings.
Hans Burkhardt retired as a professor emeritus from California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge is a public university in Northridge, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California, United States....
after teaching there for ten years. Hans was a friend of the American Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Tobey
Mark Tobey
Mark George Tobey was an American abstract expressionist painter, born in Centerville, Wisconsin. Widely recognized throughout the United States and Europe, Tobey is the most noted among the "mystical painters of the Northwest." Senior in age and experience, Tobey had a strong influence on the...
, who resided in Basel, Switzerland. Hans would often visit with Tobey in Basel.
His unique role as an important American painter is affirmed by the constant interest and continuing reassessment afforded his work.
In 1992, Burkhardt was honored as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Also in 1992, he established the Hans G. and Thordis W. Burkhardt Foundation.
In 1974, Hans Burkhardt said:
Stuart DavisStuart DavisStuart Davis or Davies may refer to:* Stuart Davis * Stuart Davis , or his album, Stuart Davis * Stuart Davis , Australian rugby league footballer* Stuart Davies, Welsh rugby union fotballer...
used to come there and Willem de KooningWillem de KooningWillem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
. He was very quiet. He was a house painter; I was a furniture finisher, but Arshile GorkyArshile GorkyArshile 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:...
always had faith in Willem de KooningWillem de KooningWillem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
and me. He said, "These two people I think are going to make it."
Selected Major Collections
- British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
- Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe 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...
- Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, California
- KunsthalleKunsthalleKunsthalle is, generally, in German speaking regions a term for a facility mounting temporary art exhibitions. Some are run or supported by a local Kunstverein, an art association of local collectors and artists...
- Basel
- 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...
- Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary ArtMuseum of Contemporary Art, Los AngelesThe Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles is a contemporary art museum with three locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near Walt Disney Concert Hall...
- Norton Simon MuseumNorton Simon MuseumThe Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
- Moderna MuseetModerna MuseetModerna museet, the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, that was first opened in 1958. Its first manager was Pontus Hultén...
, Stockholm, Sweden - Ahmanson Collection
- Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
- California State UniversityCalifornia State UniversityThe California State University is a public university system in the state of California. It is one of three public higher education systems in the state, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the...
, Northridge - Coca Cola Collection
- Columbia Museum of ArtColumbia Museum of ArtThe Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina has a collection of European and American fine and decorative art that spans several centuries...
, South Carolina - Corcoran Gallery of ArtCorcoran Gallery of ArtThe Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
, Washington, D.C. - Detroit Institute of ArtsDetroit Institute of ArtsThe Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
- Downey Art Museum, Downey, California
- Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts
- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
- Hirshhorn Collection, Washington, D.C.
- Joslyn Art MuseumJoslyn Art MuseumThe Joslyn Art Museum is the principal fine arts museum in the state of Nebraska, United States of America. Located in Omaha, it is the only museum in the state with a comprehensive permanent collection...
, Omaha, Nebraska - Portland Museum of ArtPortland Museum of ArtThe 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, Oregon - KunstmuseumKunstmuseumKunstmuseum is the German term for an art collection open to the public, mainly based on previous feudal holdings. English terms like art museum, museum of arts or art gallery, however, cover only part of its meaning, and on the other hand, art collections with a long tradition nowadays may never...
, Basel, Switzerland - Laguna Beach Museum of Art, California
- Museum of Contemporary Art San DiegoMuseum of Contemporary Art San DiegoThe Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego , in San Diego, California, USA, is an art museum focused on the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art from 1950 to the present.-History:...
, California - Emily and Joe Lowe Gallery, University of MiamiUniversity of MiamiThe University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, Florida - Oakland Museum, Oakland, California
- Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, California
- Pasadena Art Museum, California
- Norton Simon MuseumNorton Simon MuseumThe Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
- Portland Museum of ArtPortland Museum of ArtThe 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 - San Diego Museum of ArtSan Diego Museum of ArtThe San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on February 28, 1926, and changed its name to the San...
, California - Santa Barbara Museum of ArtSanta Barbara Museum of ArtThe 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...
, California - Security Pacific Bank Collection. Security Pacific BankSecurity Pacific BankSecurity Pacific National Bank was a large US bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. In 1992 Bank of America acquired SPNB.-History:...
- Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, California
- Temarind Institute, University of New Mexico. Tamarind InstituteTamarind InstituteTamarind Institute is a lithography workshop created in 1970 as a division of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. It began as Tamarind Lithography Workshop, a California non-profit corporation founded by June Wayne on Tamarind Avenue in Los Angeles in 1960...
, Alburquerqye, New Mexico - Weatherspoon Art Gallery,University of Greensboro. University of North Carolina at GreensboroUniversity of North Carolina at GreensboroThe University of North Carolina at Greensboro , also known as UNC Greensboro, is a public university in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States and is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina system. The university offers more than 100 undergraduate, 61 master's and 26...
, Greensboro, North Carolina
Books
- Marika Herskovic, American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s An Illustrated Survey, (New York School Press, 2003.) ISBN 0-9677994-1-4
- Kuspit, Donald. Hans Burkhardt: Black Rain. (Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 1993.) ISBN: 1-880566-10-9
- Selz, Peter. Hans Burkhardt: Desert Storms. (Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 1991.) ISBN: 1-880566-00-1
- Bordeaux, Jean-Luc and Melina Wortz. Hans Burkhardt: Pastels, 50 Years of Figurative Expressionism. (Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 1984.)ISBN: 1-880566-02-8
- Hans Burkhardt: Paintings of the 1960s. (Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 2008.) ISBN: 1-880566-17-6
- California State University, Northridge. Hans Burkhardt: The California State University, Northridge Collection. 2008. ISBN: 1-880566-16-8
- Wolfe, Townsend. Hans Burkhardt: Drawings 1932 - 1989. (The Arkansas Arts Center, 1996.)
- Selz, Peter. Hans Burkhardt: Pastelle, Eine Retrospektive Von 1938 - 1983. (Berlin: Galerie Hesselbach, 1993.) ISBN: 1-800-566-09-5
- Hans Burkhardt: Paintings and Pastels 1988 - 1989 ISBN: 1-88-0566-04-4
- Kuspit, Donald. Catastrophe According to Hans Burkhardt. (Muhlenberg College, 1990.) ISBN: 0-9625911-0-6
- Hans Burkhardt: 1950 - 1960. (Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 1987.) ISBN: 1-880566-02-8
- Hans Burkhardt: The War Paintings, A Catalogue Raisonne. (Santa Susana Press, 1984.)
- Aurelio de la Vega. Hans Burkhardt: Basel. (Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, 1983.) ISBN: 1-880566-01-X
External links
- http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-hans-burkhardt-12117An interview of Hans BurkhardtHans BurkhardtHans Gustav Burkhardt was a Swiss American abstract expressionist.-Life and work:In 1924 he emigrated from Basel, Switzerland to New York. He shared Arshile Gorky's studio from 1929 to 1936...
conducted 1974 Nov. 25, by Paul J. Karlstrom, for the Archives of American] - Hans Burkhardt Biography
- The Hans G. and Thordis W. Burkhardt Foundation
- Hans Burkhardt Auction results
- http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/hans-and-thordis-burkhardt-papers-8845Hans and Thordis Burkhardt papers, 1905-1981 Smithsonian Archives of America Art: Materials including lists of works exhibited; exhibition announcements and catalogs; clippings, press releases, and bulletins, and 2 scrapbooks of clippings; and photographs of Burkhardt, his wife Thordis, and others including Mark Tobey and Willem de Kooning.]