Contemporary American painting and sculpture

(Chris Devlin) #1
204

D.C.Teachingexperienceincludesworkwithprivate pupils,instruction atthe
BrooklynMuseumSchoolofArtandtheGreatNeckAdultEducationCenterand
elsewhere.AtpresentKleinholzisVisitingGuestArtistatHofstraCollege,Hemp-
stead,NewYork.Hispaintingshaveappearedfrequentlyinnationalexhibitions.
AmonginstitutionswherehisworkisrepresentedaretheMetropolitanMuseumof
ArtinNewYork;BrooklynMuseum;Newark(NewJersey)Museum.-\ssociation;
EncyclopaediaBritannica;PhillipsMemorialGallery,Washington,D.C;Brandeis
University,Waltham,Massachusetts;AlabamaPolytechnicInstitute,Auburn,Ala-
bama;UniversityofOklahoma;andtheMuseumofArtatTelAviv,Israel.His
paintingsarealsoownedbyprivatecollectors,someofwhomareMr.andMrs.Otto
SpaethandAlfred HitchcockofHollywood,California.Kleinholzlivesin Port
Washington,NewYork.

KOESTER,Frederic,StreetCorner,Paris,IVhx25'/;.Illustration—Plate 50


KoesterwasborninMilwaukee,Wisconsin,in1924.Therehebeganformalstudy
ofpaintingwithRobertvonNeumannandLowellM.Lee,bothatthetimeat
Milwaukee StateTeachersCollege.Furtherstudyfollowedatthe Art Students
LeagueofNewYorkandatColumbiaUniversity.Thencamepaintingforayear
andahalfinEuropeandaone-manshowinParis.Hisworkhasalsobeenseenin
exhibitionsinWisconsinandNewYork.AtpresentheislivingandworkinginFrench
colonicsinNorthAfrica.

KROLL,Leon,NudeinRockyBackground, 36 x27. Illustration—Plate 22


ConcerninghispictureLeonKroUwritesthatitisone"whichsomebodychrist-
enedNudeinRockyBackground,atitleIacceptbecauseitisasgoodasanyother.
Irarelyknowwhattonamemypicturesanyway,soIamabitrelievedwhensome-
oneelsedoesitnottoobadly.
"Despiteastatementmadeinamanifestogottenoutbytheso-calledadvanced
museums,thatthe'nudeisout,thisisamechanisticage,"etc.,Istillthinkthenude
isfundamentalfromadesignandfromahumanstandpoint.Itiseverrecurrent,ever
varied andwonderfulandisneverdated likethe presentmechanisticagewill
shortlybe.
"IpaintwhatIfeelaboutwhatIseeandtrytoorganizethedesigntoachieve
abeautifulorder.WhenIpaintthenude,Ipaintitwithhumilityandwithlove.
For'thatmatterIhavesimilaremotionnomatterwhatIpaint.In[NudeinRocky
Background]thedesignisbasedupongeometricalshapescarriedthroughtheentire

canvas.Theidea,—thoughIdon'tliketoadmithavingideaswhichmaybein-


terpretedasbeingsentimental (becausegoodpaintingisthe allimportantthing

aboutapicture)—.stillIdidsensewithhumbleappreciation,thewonderofwoman-


hood,thefullpelvicba.se,theformsrisingfromittothespiritualhead."
ExtractsfromKroll's"credo"follow:
"Throughhis[theartist's]visionnaturerevealsmysteriesofformandcolor.^Vith
humilitythroughhisawareness,hebecomestheprophetofthesenseofsight....
Hemustorganizethatwhichisrevealedtohimintoabeautifulorder....The
artistiseagertolearnbutheisdiscriminatinginhisaestheticjudgmentofthe
manyfacetsofexpressionwhichmayinfluencehisowncreativeideas.Inevitablythere
isasubtleindefinablequality,purelypersonal,whichdifferentiatesthe'Sensibilite"
ofoneartistfromanother.\Vhenanartistcreatesapictureheispaintingamuch
moreaccurateportraitofthestateofhissoul,mindandheartthanheisofhis
subjectmatter.
Free download pdf