Jerome Witkin
Encyclopedia
Jerome Witkin is an American
figurative art
ist whose paintings often deal with political and cultural themes. His portraits and ambitious narrative
paintings are characterized by a virtuosic handling.
Witkin was born in Brooklyn, New York, the twin brother of photographer Joel Peter Witkin. At fourteen he entered the High School of Music and Art in New York, and subsequently studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Cooper Union
, the Berlin Academy, and the University of Pennsylvania
. A Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship enabled him to travel to Europe
; after his return to the United States Witkin received a Guggenheim Fellowship
, began exhibiting at galleries in New York, and joined the faculty of the Maryland Institute College of Art
. He later taught at the Manchester College of Art in England
, Moore College of Art, and in 1971 became a professor of art at Syracuse University
.
The death of his father induced Witkin to explore mortality in his work, and resulted in series of paintings on the themes of torture, assassination, AIDS
, and the Holocaust, the last of which the artist worked on for twenty three years. While his paintings reference the work of the old master
s, social realism
, and Abstract expressionism
, Witkin refers to himself as a "cornball humanist". In a fuller explanation of his motivation, Witkin has said "If this society continues to the next two thousand years, people will be looking at the twentieth century and saying, 'What did artists do about the strange goings-on?'"
Witkin's work is included in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, the Uffizi
, the Cleveland Museum of Art
, and the Hirshhorn Museum.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
figurative art
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
ist whose paintings often deal with political and cultural themes. His portraits and ambitious narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
paintings are characterized by a virtuosic handling.
Witkin was born in Brooklyn, New York, the twin brother of photographer Joel Peter Witkin. At fourteen he entered the High School of Music and Art in New York, and subsequently studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
, the Berlin Academy, and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. A Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship enabled him to travel to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
; after his return to the United States Witkin received a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, began exhibiting at galleries in New York, and joined the faculty of the Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art is an art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the first and oldest art colleges in the United States. In 2008, MICA was ranked #2 in the nation...
. He later taught at the Manchester College of Art in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Moore College of Art, and in 1971 became a professor of art at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
.
The death of his father induced Witkin to explore mortality in his work, and resulted in series of paintings on the themes of torture, assassination, AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, and the Holocaust, the last of which the artist worked on for twenty three years. While his paintings reference the work of the old master
Old Master
"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
s, social realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
, and 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...
, Witkin refers to himself as a "cornball humanist". In a fuller explanation of his motivation, Witkin has said "If this society continues to the next two thousand years, people will be looking at the twentieth century and saying, 'What did artists do about the strange goings-on?'"
Witkin's work is included in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan 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...
, the Uffizi
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery , is a museum in Florence, Italy. It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world.-History:...
, the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
, and the Hirshhorn Museum.