Irving Kriesberg
Encyclopedia
Irving Kriesberg was an American painter whose work combined elements of Abstract Expressionism with figurative elements of human and animal forms. Kriesberg made his debut with Jackson Pollock
and Mark Rothko
at the 1952 exhibition, Fifteen Artists, at the New York Museum of Modern Art
.
Kriesberg's interest in art began in Chicago
. In 1941 he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago
School
, where he received his BFA
. Shortly after graduation from the Art Institute of Chicago
he traveled to Mexico City
. From 1941 until 1944 he studied at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas, Mexico City
. He had interest also in cinematography
.In 1972 he received his M.A.
from New York University
.,
Irving Kriesberg held teaching positions in highly regarded academic institutions:
In 1945 Irving Kriesberg moved to New York City
and had numerous solo and group exhibitions. His big break came when Dorothy Miller, curator
of the Museum of Modern Art
included Kriesberg in the landmark 1952 exhibition 15 AMERICANS at MOMA
. 15 AMERICANS exhibition
included Jackson Pollock
, William Baziotes
, Clifford Still, Edward Corbett, Richard Lippold
, Herbert Ferber
, Mark Rothko
, Bradley Walker Tomlin
, as well as Edwin Dickinson
and Frederick Keisler.
and Michael Camerini
. In the film, Kriesberg and his friend "the therapist" (anthropologist Judith Gleason) take "a fortunate journey"; the film documents their discussion and debate about a narrative series of 39 inter-related paintings by Kriesberg. He explains the motives and the meanings for the evocative and boldly colored paintings. The film was broadcast on Muse
in 1997.
Retrospective
:
grants
, two Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Award
s, a National Endowment for the Arts
Award
, a Fulbright Fellowship, and the Guggenheim Foundation
Memorial Award
.
, The Corcoran Gallery, The Brooklyn Museum
, The Detroit Museum of Art, The Kresge Art Museum, the National Museum of American Art, The Butler Institute of American Art
, The Birmingham Museum of Art
, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, The Dayton Art Institute
, The Allentown Art Museum
, The Boca Raton Museum of Art
, The Rose Art Museum
, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
, The Scottsdale MOCA, The Crocker Art Museum
.
Irving Kriesberg died in New York City on November 11, 2009 at age 90.
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...
and 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...
at the 1952 exhibition, Fifteen Artists, at the New York 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...
.
Biography
Irving Kriesberg was born March 13, 1919 in Chicago, ILKriesberg's interest in art began in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. In 1941 he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
School
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
, where he received his BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
. Shortly after graduation from the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
he traveled to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. From 1941 until 1944 he studied at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. He had interest also in cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
.In 1972 he received his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.,
Irving Kriesberg held teaching positions in highly regarded academic institutions:
- 1955-1961: Parsons School of Design, New York City
- 1961-1972: Pratt Institute, NYPratt InstitutePratt 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,...
- 1962-1969:Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale 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...
- 1969-1972: City University of New YorkCity University of New YorkThe City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
- 1972-1976: State University, NYState universityIn the United States, a state college or state university is one of the public colleges or universities funded by or associated with the state government. In some cases, these institutions of higher learning are part of a state university system, while in other cases they are not. Several U.S....
- 1977, 1978: Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia 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...
In 1945 Irving Kriesberg moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and had numerous solo and group exhibitions. His big break came when Dorothy Miller, curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of 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...
included Kriesberg in the landmark 1952 exhibition 15 AMERICANS at MOMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
. 15 AMERICANS exhibition
Exhibition
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within museums, galleries and exhibition halls, and World's Fairs...
included 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...
, William Baziotes
William Baziotes
William Baziotes was an American painter influenced by Surrealism and was a contributor to Abstract Expressionism.-Life and career:...
, Clifford Still, Edward Corbett, Richard Lippold
Richard Lippold
Richard Lippold was an American sculptor, known for his geometric constructions using wire as a medium....
, Herbert Ferber
Herbert Ferber
Herbert Ferber was an American sculptor and painter, born in New York City. He began his independent artistic studies in New York in 1926 at evening classes at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, while attending Columbia University Dental School...
, 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...
, Bradley Walker Tomlin
Bradley Walker Tomlin
Bradley Walker Tomlin belonged to the early generation of New York School Abstract Expressionist artists. He participated in the famous ‘’Ninth Street Show.’’ According to John I. H...
, as well as Edwin Dickinson
Edwin Dickinson
Edwin Walter Dickinson was an American painter and draftsman best known for psychologically charged self-portraits, quickly painted landscapes, which he called premier coups, and large, hauntingly enigmatic paintings involving figures and objects painted from observation, in which he invested his...
and Frederick Keisler.
Film
Kriesberg was the featured subject in the documentary-short Tashilham, from filmmakers Shari RobertsonShari Robertson
Shari Robertson is an American Film Director and producer. Her filmmaking credits include Twelve Stories: How Democracy Works Now, Well-Founded Fear, These Girls Are Missing, Inside the Khmer Rouge, Return to Year Zero and Washington/Peru: We Ain't Winnin'. Her films have been featured on HBO, CNN,...
and Michael Camerini
Michael Camerini
Michael Camerini is a film director, producer and cinematographer. His filmmaking credits include Twelve Stories: How Democracy Works Now, Well-Founded Fear, These Girls Are Missing, Becoming the Buddha in L.A., Dadi's Family and Born Again: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church...
. In the film, Kriesberg and his friend "the therapist" (anthropologist Judith Gleason) take "a fortunate journey"; the film documents their discussion and debate about a narrative series of 39 inter-related paintings by Kriesberg. He explains the motives and the meanings for the evocative and boldly colored paintings. The film was broadcast on Muse
Muse Entertainment Enterprises
Founded in 1998, Muse Entertainment is a Canadian producer of films and television programs. Muse Entertainment produces dramatic series, television films, mini-series for family programs....
in 1997.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- 1946 The Art Institute of Chicago (First public exhibition; 2 person show)
- 1954: St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI;
- 1955: Curt ValentinCurt ValentinCurt Valentin was a German-born American art dealer known for handling modern art, particularly sculpture, and works classified as "degenerate" by the Nazi regime in pre-war Germany....
Gallery, NYC; - 1962: Graham Gallery, NYC;
- 1966: Kumar Gallery, DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
; - 1967: Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale 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...
, New Haven, CT; - 1978, 80, 82: Terry Dintenfass, Inc., NYC;
- 1979: Fairweather–Hardin Gallery, Chicago, IL;
- 1980, 81: Brandeis UniversityBrandeis UniversityBrandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, Waltham, MA; - 1980: Everson Museum of ArtEverson Museum of ArtThe Everson Museum of Art in Downtown Syracuse, New York is a major Central New York museum focusing on American art.-History:The museum was founded in 1897 by art historian George Fisk Comfort ; at that time, it was called the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts...
, Syracuse, NY; Galerie Elizabeth, Chicago, IL; - 1981: Fiedler Gallery, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; - 1981, 83: Jack Gallery, NYC;
- 1982: Washington University, St. Louis, MO; Zenith Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA;
- 1985, 87: Graham Modern Gallery, NYC;
- 1990: Scheele Gallery, Cleveland, OH;
- 1992, 94: Katherina Rich Perlow Gallery, NYC;
- 1996, 2005: Peter Findlay Gallery, NYC;
- 2005, 08: Lori Bookstein Fine Art, NYC.
Retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective generally means to take a look back at events that already have taken place. For example, the term is used in medicine, describing a look back at a patient's medical history or lifestyle.-Music:...
:
- 1962: Jewish MuseumJewish MuseumJewish Museum may refer to:Australia* Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne, VictoriaAustria* Jewish Museum ViennaCzech Republic* Jewish Museum of PragueDenmark* Danish Jewish Museum, CopenhagenGeorgia...
, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 1946: The Art Institute of Chicago, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
; - 1952: “New Talent”, 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...
, NYC; “15 Americans”, circ., 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...
, NYC; - 1953: The 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...
, Detroit, MI; - 1954: St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO;
- 1968: ”Directions I: Options”, circ;, Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, WI;
- 1972: “Ten Independents”, 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...
, NYC.
Awards
Kriesberg has received two Ford FoundationFord Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
grants
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
, two Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expressionist painter and the widow of fellow painter Jackson...
Award
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
s, a National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Award
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
, a Fulbright Fellowship, and the Guggenheim Foundation
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
Memorial Award
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
.
Museum collection
Irving Kriesberg's paintings are held in the permanent collection of over 74 American art museums including The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney 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...
, The Corcoran Gallery, 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 Detroit Museum of Art, The Kresge Art Museum, the National Museum of American Art, The Butler Institute of American Art
Butler Institute of American Art
The Butler Institute of American Art, located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the museum has been operating pro bono since 1919...
, The Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham Museum of Art
Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama today has one of the finest collections in the Southeast US, with more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing a numerous diverse cultures, including Asian, European, American,...
, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, The Dayton Art Institute
Dayton Art Institute
The Dayton Art Institute is a museum of fine arts in Dayton, Ohio, USA. The Dayton Art Institute was rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for kids. The museum also ranks in the top 3% of all art museums in North America in 3 of 4 factors...
, The Allentown Art Museum
Allentown Art Museum
The Allentown Art Museum is an art museum located in the city of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It was founded in 1934 by a group organized by noted Pennsylvania impressionist painter, Walter Emerson Baum. With its collection of over 13,000 works of art, the Allentown Art Museum...
, The Boca Raton Museum of Art
Boca Raton Museum of Art
The Boca Raton Museum of Art is located at 501 Plaza Real, Boca Raton, Florida in Mizner Park. It houses works of art by a number of the great masters.-About:...
, The Rose Art Museum
Rose Art Museum
The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the Brandeis University art collections...
, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 in Kansas City, Missouri. The core of the museum's permanent collection is the Bebe and R. Crosby Kemper Jr. Collection, a gift of the museum's founders. The collection includes works created after the 1913 Armory Show to works by present-day...
, The Scottsdale MOCA, The Crocker Art Museum
Crocker Art Museum
The Crocker Art Museum is one of the leading arts institutions in California, and the longest continuously operating art museum in the West. Located in Sacramento, California, the Crocker has been an art innovator since 1885...
.
Irving Kriesberg died in New York City on November 11, 2009 at age 90.
Books
- Dorothy Canning Miller, 15 Americans (ew York, Museum of Modern Art, 1952.) p. 36-37
- Irving Kriesberg, Looking at pictures, a guide to intelligent appreciation ([Chicago] Center for the Study of Liberal Education for Adults, 1955.)
- Irving Kriesberg, Working with color : a manual for painters (New York : Prentice Hall, ©1986.) ISBN 0-442-01303-5
- Marika Herskovic, American Abstract and Figurative Expressionism Style Is Timely Art Is Timeless (New York School Press, 2009.) ISBN 978-0-9677994-2-1. p. 148-151