On February 4, 2007, the painter Jules Olitski died of cancer at 84 years old. Olitski, who once said he wanted his paintings to look like “nothing but some colors sprayed into the air and staying there,” was first acclaimed in the 1960s as a Color Field painter. In 1969 he became one of the first American artists to have a solo show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The permanent collections of the Met, the Guggenheim, and the Museum of Modern Art all hold Olitski paintings. Born Jevel Demikovsky in the Ukraine, Olitski came to New York City in 1923 and took the surname of his stepfather. The artist attended the National Academy of Design School and the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York and the Académie de la Grand Chaumière in Paris and later received a master’s in art from New York University. In 1963 he arrived at Bennington College, where he taught painting until 1967, alongside painter Paul Feeley, sculptor Anthony Caro, art critic Clement Greenberg, painter Kenneth Noland, and sculptor David Smith. photo: Cora Ward JULES OLITSKI RADIANCE + REFLECTION STAIN PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS 1960 – 1964 JULY 5 – AUGUST 24, 2013 YARES ART PROJECTS 123 GRANT AVE, SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 87501 www.yaresartprojects.com (505) 984-0044 STAIN PAINTINGS (1960–64) Jules Olitski’s 60-year career could be examined in five “chapters” of his work: Stain (1960–64), Spray (1965–70), Baroque (1973–81), High Baroque (1983–99), and Late Paintings (2000– 2006). Through his career marked by persistent, often exuberant reinvention, Olitski’s concerns remained notably constant. By the time his career was established, he preferred to work in his studio overnight, beginning at dusk and finishing at first light. Olitski’s studio in Bear Island, New Hampshire, was built on the water, its windows facing westward, capturing the last possible rays of sunlight and streaks of color each evening. However, the light in Olitski’s paintings is best related to the dawn, to the daily promise of renewed light after a long, dark night. Olitski created many of his paintings from 1960 through 1964 by staining: pouring acrylic paint onto raw (unprimed or unprepared) canvas so that it soaked directly into the cloth. In contrast to the “gestural” surfaces of the Abstract Expressionism that dominated the art world throughout the 1950s, staining featured no brushstrokes or thick dabs and drips of paint. Instead, stain painting asserts its own flatness, and color unites with the canvas rather than sitting on top of it. One consequence of this technique is an unusual radiance, as if the raw canvas were an internal source of light. Olitski’s experiments were unique for their bold shapes reminiscent of single-celled organisms and for their lively yet controlled compositions. Flying Doll 1961 magna acrylic on canvas 73" x 53" 3 4 In My Old Tin Lizzie 1961 magna acrylic on canvas 80.25" x 84.25" Mascha 1961 magna acrylic on canvas 82" x 78.25" 5 THE JULIUS DEMIKOVSKY IMAGE Jules Olitski was born Jevel Demikovski in 1922 in Snovsk, in the Ukraine. After his father was executed by the Soviet government, he immigrated to the United States in 1923 with his mother and settled in Brooklyn. A few years later, his mother married Hyman Olitsky (note the “y” ending). The painting entitled The Julius Demikovski Image is perhaps a self-portrait. Jevel Demikovski became Jules Olitski just like the paintings of 1961–62 underwent a metamorphosis; the irregular oval contains circular motifs, the solid color of the ground and the quest for a new color harmony. The eloquent, unusual, and perhaps ironic image in The Julius Demikovsky Image, though flat, projects from the yellow-golden plane. The work is essentially defined by the association of the colored planes in which a color attracts and at the same time repels the other; the ultramarine of the ring in proximity to the red of the central patch gives it an almost violet tinge; the vermillion takes on a tawny vividness; two pale mauve discs also serve as a repoussoir device for the brighter colors. The whole field is unified as if by the rays of an inner light. The “staining” technique brings out a flattening of the circular contours, thus establishing a frontal image. The painting is signed on the reverse “Olitski” and “Olitsky,” thus the painting, with its title and signatures, embraces and defines all the names of the artist Jules Olitski. Partial excerpt from: Claudine Humblet, The New American Abstraction, 1950–1970, V.3 (Skira: Milano, Italy, 2007) ! g The Julius Demikovsky Image 1961 magna acrylic on canvas 80" x 128.75" 7 8 Untitled #11 1963 magna acrylic on canvas 33.125" x 46" Joshua Jump 1964 magna acrylic on canvas 45" x 42" 9 IN MEMORY OF JULES OLITSKI I wrote a letter to Jules Olitski, as I wanted very much to show his work. He responded by inviting me to his island in Vermont. That summer, I went to Vermont, and Olitski sent someone to pick me up in a small boat. When I arrived at the island, there was Olitski, a large man with soft eyes, holding a big glass of Scotch, at ten in the morning. I liked him immediately; he was a very warm and attractive man. He was just about to go to sleep, as it was his habit to work at night and sleep during the day. His wife, Kristina, a young and beautiful Greek lady, welcomed us, and we went to the house. We talked for a while and had a beautiful lunch. Olitski didn’t go to sleep that day. Instead, we went to his studio. How interesting it was to me that most of the canvases were lying on the floor, as that’s where he painted them. They were thickly textured, and he covered the whole canvas in this way. This was the beginning of a new style for him, as the earlier works were much more minimal and painted very thinly. We met again for dinner, and then after dinner everybody went to sleep except Olitski and me. We stayed by the dinner table and talked—all night. We didn’t talk about art. We talked about Jewish literature, with which he was so familiar, and so was I. I think this was the magic. Talk to an artist about any subject other than art, and he will love you. And that’s how my relationship with Jules Olitski began. We did a few shows in Scottsdale of his work. Olitski came with Kristina, and we made a great exhibition. Jules died in 2007. I love you, Jules Olitski. Riva Yares Sleeping with Dogs (Scottsdale: Next Turn, 2011) ! 10 A-007 1960 magna acrylic on canvas 78" x 149" Jules Olitski in his Northpoint, NY, studio ! ©1965 Newsday, del Toro Photography Recognitions 1960 magna acrylic on canvas 80.875" x 135" 11 ON INSPIRATION . As we all know, inspiration, like love, can’t be induced. If we are fortunate, it will happen, falling upon us like a gift from the gods. If we are very fortunate, it will happen more than once. The only thing I could hope for was that I would be at work when the miracle came about; so I worked all the time. And then some seven or eight years ago I came upon this sentence by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do the thing and you will have the power.” I didn’t know, and still don’t, its exact meaning, but the words had for me a power in themselves, an incantatory power. It was as if, simply by saying the words and in that instant taking hold of the work, I had also taken hold of the power. Now here was a power I could induce. And what’s more, the experience was similar to that which I had called inspiration. I am what I do. Behind another’s conscience I cannot hide. Jules Olitski Excerpted from “Jules Olitski, The Courage of Conviction,” in Philip L. Berman, ed., The Courage of Conviction (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1985). ! Basium Blush 1960 magna acrylic on canvas 79” x 109” 13 14 Voyage 1960 magna acrylic on canvas 142" x 80.5" CATALOGUE OF EXHIBITION Flying Doll 1961 A-007 1960 magna acrylic on canvas 73” x 53” magna acrylic on canvas 78” x 149” In My Old Tin Lizzie 1961 Recognitions 1960 magna acrylic on canvas 80.25” x 84.25” magna acrylic on canvas 80.875” x 135” Mascha 1961 Basium Blush 1960 magna acrylic on canvas 82” x 78.25” magna acrylic on canvas 79” x 109” The Julius Demikovsky Image 1961 Voyage 1960 magna acrylic on canvas 80” x 128.75” magna acrylic on canvas 142” x 80.5” Untitled #11 1963 *Daphne Series-4 1964 magna acrylic on canvas 33.125” x 46” pastel on green textured paper 9” x 12” Joshua Jump 1964 *Daphne Series-8 1964 magna acrylic on canvas 45” x 42” pastel on tinted paper 12” x 9” We wish to thank the family Olitski for having made available this selection of major paintings held closely within. My mother Riva introduced me to Jules and his work decades ago, and the color, imagery and radiance have been saturated within my spirit ever since. I also wish to thank Ann Freedman, representing the Olitski Estate, for having helped orchestrate this exhibition that is the reflection of the very foundation of a career ever embedded and heralded in the history of the world of art .