CONTACT: Meg Winslow (212) 226-0400
SAM GLANKOFF: WORK FROM 1940-1982
January 22 through February 23, 1991
Viewed by very few in his lifetime, SAM GLANKOFF's impressive body of work is a unique development in the history of 20th century works on paper. Determined to voice specific abstract events of color and texture, Glankoff invented an elaborate process whereby he painted directly on wood templates and transferred many layers of painting wet paper by hand. This idiosyncratic method, now called "print painting," with all of its subtle practicalities, enabled Glankoff to express his joyous abstractions in a lucid, sympathetic medium all his own.
This exhibition begins with woodcuts and their original blocks from the 1940s, and proceeds to document the artists shift from the traditional woodcut to his later works in which he combined elements of woodcut, monotype and direct painting techniques. The lively fusion of textures from the materials – wood and rice paper – with the vibrant color saturation resulting from multiple translucent layers of water-based inks, creates a profound resonance in Glankoff's animated, mythic forms.
Glankoff lived and worked in New York City most of his life, showing his work rarely – at the Whitney Studio Club a few times in the 1920s and much later at the Graham Gallery in 1981. Making his living drawing for True Comics and designing toys such as the original three-dimensional "Babar" and Dr. Seuss' "Cat in the Hat," Glankoff made no effort to push his art into the public eye. As a result, his audience has grown and his recognition among museum curators has been established solely by word of mouth. Glankoff's work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Gugenheim Museum and the Detroit Institute of the Arts, among other institutions.
Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
130 Prince Street New York, NY 10012 212 226-0040 Fax: 212 334-6494
