Joop Sanders
Joop Sanders | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joan Alfred Levy[1] October 6, 1921[2] |
| Nationality | American, Dutch |
| Education | Art Students League of New York |
| Style | Painting |
| Movement | Abstract Expressionism, The New York School |
Joop Sanders (born October 6, 1921), is a Dutch-American painter, educator, and founding member of the American Abstract Expressionist group. He is the youngest member of the first generation of the New York School.
Early life and education
Sanders was born on October 6, 1921 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and emigrated to the United States in 1939.[3][4] He studied in 1940 at the Art Students League of New York, in New York City, for six months with artist George Grosz.[4][5]
In 1940 Sanders met Elaine de Kooning and Willem de Kooning at a concert featuring the music of Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland and William Schuman.[6] By the mid-1940s, Elaine de Kooning had painted approximately a dozen portraits of Sanders, which seem to express aloneness and androgyny.[7] Sanders spoke at Elaine de Kooning's memorial service.[8]
Work
Sanders was one of twenty original members and a charter member of The Club, which was located at 39 East 8th Street.[9][10] Sanders married Isca Jörgensen at The Club on December 27, 1950.
In the mid-1950's Sanders left New York for Europe. In 1960 he was the first young American painter to be given a one-man show at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, which played a crucial role in introducing advanced American art to Europe. Sanders established a considerable European reputation. This move—just at the time abstract expressionism was being accepted in America—resulted, however, in his being overlooked as one of the first younger artists to contribute to the style in New York. Sanders returned to New York in 1959, where his work became almost monochromatic and fieldlike. It never was impersonal; he always retained an emotional content. During the 1960s, Sanders created sectional paintings which would be arranged in a variety of configurations by the owner or even construed as three-dimensional sculpture.[11]
Horizon Magazine's art critic, Hiram Butler, described Sander' painting "Pantagruel, 1955" as roughly painted and reflects abstract-expressionist Angst at its fullest. Yet, like its namesake from Rabelais' work, it is also good-humored. American commercial colors elevate the pitch and serve to delight. Along with the serious express there is a capricious and fanciful, almost mocking stroke.[12] Sanders' "Gong, 1979", places the power of abstract-expressionist color and painterliness within a more formal and refined structure. Shapes are larger than in his earlier work. the dominant purples, deep greens, and pinks are rich and more closely hued. The combination results in a powerful, serene rhythm. When asked about reincorporating earlier tendencies in his art, Sanders responds, "the artist is like Sisyphus, punished by Zeus to try forever to roll a rock uphill which forever rolls back upon him."[13]
Art critic Lawrence Campbell in describing Sanders' work for Art in America in 1987 at Alfred Kren Gallery in New York remarked, "These paintings are like spirit photographs in which the spirit reaches out and touches the viewer. Barnett Newman once said to Sanders on seeing paintings like these, “Of all the painters working in the context of color field, you seem to me to be the only one who, like, me, concerns himself with the humanist spirit in painting."[14]
Personal life
Sanders was married for 68 years to the lieder singer Isca Sanders-Jörgensen (1925-2019). His son is the sculptor, John Sanders [15] and his daughter is the attorney, Karin Greenfield-Sanders.[16] His son-in-law is the photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and his grandchildren include artist Isca Greenfield-Sanders and filmmaker Liliana Greenfield-Sanders.[17][18]
Exhibitions
- 9th Street Art Exhibition, 60 East 9th Street, 1951[9][19][20][21]
- "Joop Sanders" 1965 Bertha Schaefer Gallery [22]
- Abstractions, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, 1988/89[23]
- Dubuffet to de Kooning: Expressionist Prints from Europe and America, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, 1998/99[23]
- Sanders and Greenfield-Sanders, Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL, 2003[24]
- Elaine de Kooning Portrayed, Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, New York, 2015[25][26]
- Elaine de Kooning: Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 2015/16[27]
- Galerie Biedermann, 2021/22[28]
Collections
Sanders' work is held in the following permanent collection:
- Museum of Modern Art, New York: 1 work (as of 16 November 2022)[3]
See also
- Abstract expressionism
- Abstract Impressionism
- Action painting
- New York School
- Tenth street galleries
References
- ^ Four Centuries of Dutch-American Relations: 1609–2009. SUNY Press. 9 September 2009. p. 1074. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ "Willem de Kooning". Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Joop Sanders - MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
- ^ a b "Artist Biography for Joop Sanders". www.askart.com. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
- ^ Joop Sanders. Vol. 24. Horizon Publisher. 1984.
- ^ Stevens, Mark; Swan, Annalyn (2006). De Kooning: An American Master. Alfred A. Knopf. p. 193. ISBN 0375711163 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Instant Illuminations: Elaine de Kooning's Early Portraiture". Hyperallergic. 2015-04-04. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
- ^ Celebrating a Life Steeped in Art, Friends Honor Elaine de Kooning
- ^ a b "Prolific Years: Exhibitions and Alcoholism". de Kooning Experts. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
- ^ ArtForum
- ^ Horizon Magazine
- ^ Horizon Magazine
- ^ Horizon Magazine
- ^ Joop Sanders at Alfred Kren Art in America May 1987
- ^ Socrates Park
- ^ Justia Lawyers
- ^ "Mover & Shaker: Isca Greenfield-Sanders". Veronica Beard. 2015-04-27. Archived from the original on 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
- ^ "Isca Greenfield-Sanders". FAMSF Search the Collections. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2019-02-25.[dead link]
- ^ "9th St." Show Poster Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists, p. 16; p. 38; p. 326-329
- ^ Exhibitor's list
- ^ Bertha Schaefer Gallery
- ^ a b "Artists: Joop Sanders". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2019-02-25.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "News | The Hedda Sterne Foundation". The Hedda Sterne Foundation. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
- ^ "Springs News - Springs Community Notes". 27east. 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
- ^ Elaine de Kooning: Portraits
- ^ Galerie Biedermann
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1921 births
- Living people
- 20th-century Dutch male artists
- Dutch emigrants to the United States
- 20th-century American male artists
- Abstract expressionist artists
- Modern painters
- Abstract painters
- 20th-century American painters
- 20th-century American printmakers
- 21st-century American painters
- American male painters
- Art Students League of New York alumni
- Artists from Amsterdam
- Dutch male painters
- Painters from New York City
- Painters from Amsterdam
- People from Greenwich Village
- People with acquired American citizenship