Jules Olitski
Encyclopedia
Jules Olitski was an American
abstract
painter
, printmaker, and sculptor.
, Ukraine
), a few months after his father, a commissar, was executed by the Russian government. He emigrated to the United States in 1923 with his mother and grandmother and settled in Brooklyn
. His grandmother cared for him while his mother worked to support the family. In 1926 his mother married Hyman Olitsky (note "y" ending), a widower with two sons. A daughter was born in 1930.
and by 1935 was taking occasional art classes in Manhattan
. He attended public schools in New York, winning an art prize upon his graduation from high school. At an exhibit of the work of some of the great masters at the New York World's Fair
in 1939 he was very impressed by Rembrandt's portrait
s. Subsequently he won a scholarship to study art at Pratt Institute
and was admitted to the National Academy of Design
in New York. His education continued at Beaux Arts Institute
in New York from 1940-42.
After discharge from the Army in 1945, Olitski married and travelled to Asheville, NC and Mexico
, returned to New York, and then in the late 40s went to Paris
on the G.I. Bill where he studied at the Ossip Zadkine
School and the Academia de la Grande Chaumiere, both in Paris. In Paris he saw the European modern masters and engaged in a severe self-analysis, which involved painting while blindfolded to remove himself from all of his customary habits and facility.
Having returned to New York in 1951, Olitski received his B.A.
in 1952 and his M.A.
in 1954 in Art Education, both from New York University
. In 1958 he had his first New York one-person show, at the Zodiac (Iolas) Gallery, and met Clement Greenberg
, who exhibited Olitski's paintings in a large solo show at French & Company in May 1959.
In 1960 Olitski abruptly moved away from the heavily encrusted abstract surfaces he had evolved and began to stain the canvas with large areas of thin, brightly colored dyes. These were shown at a second French & Co. exhibit, in April 1961, and he was asked to join the Poindexter Gallery, where he had several exhibitions. Thereafter he exhibited in numerous venues, won a prize at the Carnegie International
and began to be collected by museums.
By 1965 Olitski had evolved a radically innovative technique of laying down atmospheric blankets of colored spray on the canvas, marked at first by barely discernible straight-edged value changes near the edge of the picture and later by acrylic paint
dragged along portions of the edge. He exhibited internationally in the late 1960s and was selected as one of four artists to represent the United States
at the Venice Biennale
in 1966. In 1969 he was invited to exhibit large, aluminum, spray-painted sculpture
s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
becoming the first living American
artist
to be given a one-person exhibition there.
He taught at Bennington College
from 1963 to 1967.
In the 1970s Olitski returned to the thick impasto
surfaces which characterized his work in the 50s but with innovative techniques that took advantage of the newly improved polymer
and gel acrylic mediums.
His late works from 2001 through January 2007 are characterized by intensely colored orbs that can evoke landscape
or skyscape
. As Norman L. Kleeblat states in his essay in the catalog that accompanies the exhibition Jules Olitski-The Late Paintings-A Celebration, at Knoedler and Company Nov 2007-Jan 2008. "The intensity of Olitski's colors can feel jarring when each colored area is observed separately. But the artist is a master of unlikely clashes of intense and artificial-looking colors recalling Delacroix
.".
Olitski had over 150 one-person exhibitions in his lifetime and is represented in museums worldwide.
and Florida
and exhibited regularly until his death from cancer
in 2007, aged 84.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, printmaker, and sculptor.
Early life
Olitski was born Jevel Demikovski in Snovsk, in the Russian SFSR (now SchorsSchors
Shchors or Schors is a city in Chernihiv Oblast of Ukraine. The population was 12,315 in 2001.The city was named in honour of Nikolay Shchors in 1935. Previously it was called Snovsk , after the Snov River in which it is situated....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), a few months after his father, a commissar, was executed by the Russian government. He emigrated to the United States in 1923 with his mother and grandmother and settled in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. His grandmother cared for him while his mother worked to support the family. In 1926 his mother married Hyman Olitsky (note "y" ending), a widower with two sons. A daughter was born in 1930.
Education
Olitski showed an aptitude for drawingDrawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
and by 1935 was taking occasional art classes in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. He attended public schools in New York, winning an art prize upon his graduation from high school. At an exhibit of the work of some of the great masters at the New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
in 1939 he was very impressed by Rembrandt's portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s. Subsequently he won a scholarship to study art at Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt 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,...
and was admitted to the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
in New York. His education continued at Beaux Arts Institute
Beaux-Arts Institute of Design
The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City...
in New York from 1940-42.
After discharge from the Army in 1945, Olitski married and travelled to Asheville, NC and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, returned to New York, and then in the late 40s went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on the G.I. Bill where he studied at the Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine was a Belarusian-born artist who lived in France. He is primarily known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs.-Early years and career:...
School and the Academia de la Grande Chaumiere, both in Paris. In Paris he saw the European modern masters and engaged in a severe self-analysis, which involved painting while blindfolded to remove himself from all of his customary habits and facility.
Having returned to New York in 1951, Olitski received his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1952 and his M.A.
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1954 in Art Education, both 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...
Career
Olitski had his first one-person show at Galerie Huit, Paris in 1951. He returned to New York, reacting against the color and imagery of his Paris works, he began to paint monochromatic pictures with empty centers. He divorced and began exhibiting in group shows, and by 1956 was remarried and had joined the faculty of C. W. Post College on Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. In 1958 he had his first New York one-person show, at the Zodiac (Iolas) Gallery, and met Clement Greenberg
Clement Greenberg
Clement Greenberg was an American essayist known mainly as an influential visual art critic closely associated with American Modern art of the mid-20th century...
, who exhibited Olitski's paintings in a large solo show at French & Company in May 1959.
In 1960 Olitski abruptly moved away from the heavily encrusted abstract surfaces he had evolved and began to stain the canvas with large areas of thin, brightly colored dyes. These were shown at a second French & Co. exhibit, in April 1961, and he was asked to join the Poindexter Gallery, where he had several exhibitions. Thereafter he exhibited in numerous venues, won a prize at the Carnegie International
Carnegie International
The Carnegie International is the oldest North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896 in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established the International to educate and inspire the...
and began to be collected by museums.
By 1965 Olitski had evolved a radically innovative technique of laying down atmospheric blankets of colored spray on the canvas, marked at first by barely discernible straight-edged value changes near the edge of the picture and later by acrylic paint
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
dragged along portions of the edge. He exhibited internationally in the late 1960s and was selected as one of four artists to represent the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in 1966. In 1969 he was invited to exhibit large, aluminum, spray-painted sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s at 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...
becoming the first living American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
to be given a one-person exhibition there.
He taught at Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
from 1963 to 1967.
In the 1970s Olitski returned to the thick impasto
Impasto
In English, the borrowed Italian word impasto most commonly refers to a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface very thickly, usually thickly enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas...
surfaces which characterized his work in the 50s but with innovative techniques that took advantage of the newly improved polymer
Polymer
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
and gel acrylic mediums.
His late works from 2001 through January 2007 are characterized by intensely colored orbs that can evoke landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
or skyscape
Skyscape Art
Skyscape art depicts representations of the sky, especially in a painting or photograph. Skyscapes differ from cloudscapes because they do not necessarily include clouds. Like cloudscape art, skyscape art can also omit any view of land or anything else which might help to suggest scale or orientation...
. As Norman L. Kleeblat states in his essay in the catalog that accompanies the exhibition Jules Olitski-The Late Paintings-A Celebration, at Knoedler and Company Nov 2007-Jan 2008. "The intensity of Olitski's colors can feel jarring when each colored area is observed separately. But the artist is a master of unlikely clashes of intense and artificial-looking colors recalling Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
.".
Olitski had over 150 one-person exhibitions in his lifetime and is represented in museums worldwide.
Recent
Olitski lived and worked in studios in New HampshireNew Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and exhibited regularly until his death from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 2007, aged 84.
Criticism
- Swedish art critic Ulf LindeUlf LindeProfessor Ulf Harald Linde , is an art critic, writer, museum director and a member of the Swedish Academy. He was elected to the Swedish Academy on 10 February 1977 and admitted on 20 December 1977. Ulf Linde succeeded the writer Eyvind Johnson to Seat No.11. Linde was the director of the in...
mentions Olitski as an example of "visual muzakMuzakMuzak Holdings LLC is a company based in metro Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States, just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1934, Muzak Holdings is best known for distribution of background music to retail stores and other companies....
" in the interview text Om det genant enkla (Eng: About that which is awkwardly simple)
- New York Times art critic Roberta Smith says in her October 14, 2005 review that Olitski is "...an artist who, if he hasn't quite come full circle, has always combined a penchant for flash and visual drama with a keen interest in the physicality of paint, whether thin, as in his stained and spray-painted abstractions of the 1960s, or thick." online November 26, 2007
External links
- Official Website
- New York Times Obituary, February 5, 2007.
- Jules Olitski, Reflections on Masterpieces