Peter Grippe
Encyclopedia
Peter Grippe was an American sculptor, printmaker, and painter. As a sculptor, he worked in bronze, terracotta, wire, plaster, and found objects. His "Monument to Hiroshima" series (1963) used found objects cast in bronze sculptures to evoke the chaotic humanity of the Japanese city after its incineration by atomic bomb. Other Grippe Surrealist sculptural works address less warlike themes, including that of city life. However, his expertise extended beyond sculpture to ink drawings, watercolor painting, and printmaking (intaglio
). He joined and later directed Atelier 17, the intaglio studio founded in London and moved to New York at the beginning of World War II by its founder, Stanley William Hayter. Today, Grippe's 21 Etchings and Poems, a part of the permanent collection at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is available as part of the museum's virtual collection.
group, was born on August 11, 1912, in Buffalo, New York
, and died on October 18, 2002, in Suffolk, New York. While primarily known as a sculptor working in bronze and clay, he created a portfolio of etchings by 21 artists (examples include Willem de Kooning
, Jacques Lipchitz
, and Peter Grippe himself) and 21 poets (including Frank O'Hara
, Dylan Thomas
, and Thomas Merton
) in a work entitled 21 Etchings and Poems. The collective work took three years to print and was published by New York's Morris Gallery in 1960.
Grippe was educated at the Albright-Knox Art School (today the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy) and the Art Institute of Buffalo
. He moved to New York in the 1930s, and his work reflects a move into the Cubist and Surrealist schools. According to Bob Mattison, Marshall R. Metzgar Professor of Art History at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, “Moving away from simply realist depictions in public monuments, Grippe and his colleagues embraced Cubism with its openwork multidimensional view of the world and Surrealist imagery drawn from the subconscious thus bringing American sculpture into the modern era.” As Grippe's artistic and academic career progressed, he taught at several higher education institutions, including Brandeis University
, where he was named the first professor of sculpture. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
in the category of fine arts in 1964.
An untranscribed five-minute tape recording of an interview with Grippe is available at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art. The interviewer, Dorothy Seckler, spoke with him circa 1968. Grippe is also mentioned in a transcribed Smithsonian Institution interview in 2002 with Ruth Asawa
in her San Francisco in which she discusses his technique and their associates during the period from 1946 to 1949.
Seven years after Grippe's death, his widow, Florence, made a gift of his work, his personal collection of art, and his personal papers to the Allentown Art Museum
of the Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania). He had a gallery exhibition in the Susan Teller Gallery of New York in November 2010.
Intaglio (printmaking)
Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or...
). He joined and later directed Atelier 17, the intaglio studio founded in London and moved to New York at the beginning of World War II by its founder, Stanley William Hayter. Today, Grippe's 21 Etchings and Poems, a part of the permanent collection at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is available as part of the museum's virtual collection.
Biography
Grippe, a member of the American Abstract ArtistsAmerican Abstract Artists
American Abstract Artists was formed in 1936 in New York City, to promote and foster public understanding of abstract art. American Abstract Artists exhibitions, publications, and lectures helped to establish the organization as a major forum for the exchange and discussion of ideas, and for...
group, was born on August 11, 1912, in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, and died on October 18, 2002, in Suffolk, New York. While primarily known as a sculptor working in bronze and clay, he created a portfolio of etchings by 21 artists (examples include Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
, Jacques Lipchitz
Jacques Lipchitz
Jacques Lipchitz was a Cubist sculptor.Jacques Lipchitz was born Chaim Jacob Lipchitz, son of a building contractor in Druskininkai, Lithuania, then within the Russian Empire...
, and Peter Grippe himself) and 21 poets (including Frank O'Hara
Frank O'Hara
Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara was an American writer, poet and art critic. He was a member of the New York School of poetry.-Life:...
, Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
, and Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. was a 20th century Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion...
) in a work entitled 21 Etchings and Poems. The collective work took three years to print and was published by New York's Morris Gallery in 1960.
Grippe was educated at the Albright-Knox Art School (today the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy) and the Art Institute of Buffalo
Art Institute of Buffalo
The Art Institute of Buffalo was an art school in Buffalo, New York. It opened its doors in 1931, and continued to produce graduates until the Institute closed in 1956. The faculty included a number of well-known artists...
. He moved to New York in the 1930s, and his work reflects a move into the Cubist and Surrealist schools. According to Bob Mattison, Marshall R. Metzgar Professor of Art History at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, “Moving away from simply realist depictions in public monuments, Grippe and his colleagues embraced Cubism with its openwork multidimensional view of the world and Surrealist imagery drawn from the subconscious thus bringing American sculpture into the modern era.” As Grippe's artistic and academic career progressed, he taught at several higher education institutions, including Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis 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...
, where he was named the first professor of sculpture. He was awarded 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...
in the category of fine arts in 1964.
An untranscribed five-minute tape recording of an interview with Grippe is available at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art. The interviewer, Dorothy Seckler, spoke with him circa 1968. Grippe is also mentioned in a transcribed Smithsonian Institution interview in 2002 with Ruth Asawa
Ruth Asawa
Ruth Asawa is a Japanese American sculptor. In San Francisco, she has been called the "fountain lady" for her works that include the mermaid fountain at Ghirardelli Square...
in her San Francisco in which she discusses his technique and their associates during the period from 1946 to 1949.
Seven years after Grippe's death, his widow, Florence, made a gift of his work, his personal collection of art, and his personal papers to 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...
of the Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania). He had a gallery exhibition in the Susan Teller Gallery of New York in November 2010.
Exhibitions and Awards
Peter Grippe’s career was marked by many exhibitions, awards, and other honors, noted in the following partial list listed chronologically with information from exhibition catalogues, primarily a retrospective catalogue published by the Sid Deutsch Gallery for a one-man exhibition in 1991. The catalogues are available to view at Brooklyn Museum of Art Library, Brooklyn, N.Y.- Orrefors Gallery, New York, N.Y. 1942 (sole exhibition).
- Willard Gallery, New York, 1944, 1945, 1948 (multiple sole exhibitions).
- 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...
, New York, N.Y., 1945 (group exhibition, “Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture, Drawings & Watercolours”). - Clay Club, New York, N.Y., 1946 (group exhibition, “Abstract & Non-Objective Sculpture”).
- Willard Gallery, New York, N.Y. “Peter Grippe Watercolors and Sculpture,” October 8 to November 2, 1946 (sole exhibition).
- Brooklyn MuseumBrooklyn MuseumThe 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....
, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1947 (prize, “Purchase Prize - First Annual Print Exhibition of Brooklyn Museum”) - 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...
, New York, N.Y., 1951 (group exhibition, “Abstract Painting & Sculpture in America”). - 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...
, New York, N.Y., 1952 (award, “Contemporary Watercolors, Drawings & Prints Award”, $500 print prize). - Print Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1953 (award, “Charles M. Lea Award”)
- Arts Commission of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, 1955 (award, “Boston Arts Festival Award”, $200 first prize for sculpture).
- National Council for U.S. Art, 1955 (award, $1000 sculpture award).
- 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, Massachusetts, 1957 (designed medallion for Creative Arts Award given by Brandeis University). - Slosberg Gallery, Brandeis University. Waltham, Massachusetts (in co-operation with the Peridot Gallery, New York City). “Sculpture Drawings Prints by Peter Grippe,” Monday, February 10, 1958 (sole exhibition opening).
- Peridot Gallery. “Peter Grippe.” April 14 to May 11, 1959 (sole exhibition).
- Nordness Gallery, New York, 1960 (sole exhibition).
- Nordness Gallery, New York. May 21 to June 8, 1963 (sole exhibition).
- Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim 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...
for Sculpture, New York, N.Y. (award, “Guggenheim Fellowship for Sculpture). - American AcademyAmerican AcademyAmerican Academy can refer to:*American Academy in Berlin*Dubai American Academy*American Academy of Larnaca*American Academy in Rome*Üsküdar American Academy...
, Rome, Italy, 1965 (group exhibition). - Sculptors Guild, New York, N.Y., 1967 (group exhibition).
- Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y., 1969 (group exhibition, “The New American Painting & Sculpture: The First Generation”).
- Institute of Contemporary ArtInstitute of Contemporary ArtThe Institute of Contemporary Art is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The museum was founded in 1936 with a mission to exhibit contemporary art.-Mission:...
, Boston, Massachusetts, 1969 (group exhibition, “Boston Now”). - Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Massachusetts, 1979 (group exhibition, “American Contemporary Sculpture”).
- Whitney Museum of American Art, 1980 (group exhibition, “The Figurative Tradition”).
- Parrish Museum, Southampton, N.Y., 1985, (group exhibition, “Painting & Sculpture in New York, 1936-1946”).
- Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York, N.Y.. “Peter Grippe - Selections from the 30’s and 40’s: Sculpture, Paintings & Drawings.” October 5-30, 1991 (sole exhibition).
- Allentown Art MuseumAllentown Art MuseumThe 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...
, “Peter Grippe [...].” [start date] to [close date], 2010 (sole exhibition; also includes “21 Etchings and Poems” portfolio). Posthumous retrospective exhibition after Florence Grippe’s gift of the artist’s personal collection and papers to the Allentown Art Museum in 2009.
Public Commissions
- Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. Theodore Shapiro Forum, sculpture, 1963.
- Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. Portrait of composer Irving Fine, 1964.
- Simmons CollegeSimmons CollegeSimmons College may refer to:*Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky*Simmons College , a liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts...
, Boston. Sculpture for Science Building lobby, 1969. - Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. Portrait of Marvin H. Bernstein, university president, 1980.
Locations of Permanent Collections
- Addison Gallery of American ArtAddison Gallery of American ArtThe Addison Gallery of American Art, as a department of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, is an academic museum dedicated to collecting American art...
, Andover, Massachusetts - Albright-Knox Art GalleryAlbright-Knox Art GalleryThe Albright-Knox Art Gallery is an art museum located in Delaware Park in Buffalo, New York. The gallery is a major showplace for modern art and contemporary art. It is located directly across the street from Buffalo State College.-History:...
, Buffalo, N.Y. - Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh ValleyAllentown Art MuseumThe 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...
, Allentown, Pennsylvania - Blanden Memorial Gallery, Fort Dodge, Iowa
- Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
- Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture GardenThe Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
, Washington, D.C. - Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, Washington, D.C. - Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y.
- National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
(Rosenwald Collection), Washington, D.C. - New York Public LibraryNew York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
(print collection), New York, N.Y. - Newark MuseumNewark MuseumThe Newark Museum is the largest museum in New Jersey, USA. It holds fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world...
, Newark, N.J. - Philadelphia Museum of ArtPhiladelphia Museum of ArtThe Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
External links
- Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, Allentown, Pennsylvania (accessed January 10, 2011)
- http://www.allentownartmuseum.org/exhibitions/grippe.shtml - description of exhibition, "Peter Grippe: A Personal Vocabulary", Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, July 18-November 14, 2010 (accessed January 7, 2011)
- Lafayette College Art Department homepage (accessed January 7, 2011)
- http://www.allentownpa.gov/DesktopModules/EventsCalendar/Popup.aspx?ItemID=2622&Mid=1052&PortalID=0&TabID=56&d=20101028&culture=en-US - description of lecture, "Peter Grippe, 21 Etchings and Poems", by Margo Thompson, Ph.D., assistant professor of art history at Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania (accessed January 7, 2011)
- http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%22Peter%20Grippe%22&ss=0&ct=0&mt=all&w=all&adv=1 - Flickr collection of a selection of Peter Grippe's work (accessed January 7, 2011)
- http://www.artknowledgenews.com/2009-08-03-21-33-18-allentown-art-museum-receives-major-gifts-from-peter-grippe-estate.html - article from Art Knowledge News, "Allentown Art Museum Receives Major Gifts from Peter Grippe Estate", August 3, 2009 (accessed January 7, 2011)
- http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/american-abstract-artists.html - description of the American Abstract Artists group, founded in 1936 in New York City
- http://pilot.familysearch.org/records/trk:/fsrs/rr_2133299300/p1&hash=HloWXpZgU9zB10k5M56iYku8TUc%253D FamilySearch.org's Social Security Death Index record for Peter Grippe (accessed January 7, 2011)
- http://www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu/exhibitions/exhibitions_etchings_poems_recordings.html - multimedia presentation of 21 Etchings and Poems, Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Cambridge, Massachusetts (accessed January 7, 2011)
- http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/allentown-museum-gets-grippe-collection/ - "Allentown Museum Gets Grippe Collection" (Arts Blog), New York Times, September 1, 2009 (accessed January 10, 2011)