MICHAEL HURSON Drawings: 1969-83 The Institute for Art and Urban Resources New York Ryerson Library THE ART INSTITUTE of CHICAGO MICHAEL HURSON I>ra\Vings: 1969-83 An Exhibition Curated by HENRY GELDZAHLER 26 February - 25 March 1984 THE CLOCKTOWER, THE INSTITUTE FOR ART AND URBAN RESOURCES New York 18 April - 3 June 1984 THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, THE BLAKE-PALMER GALLERY Chicago ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MICHAEL HURSON: Drawings 1969-83 is the first exhibi- tion Henry Geldzahler has organized for The Institute for Art and Urban Resources during his tenure as our Distin- guished Guest Curator. Mr. Geldzahler's position with The Institute is made possible by grants from the Lila Acheson Wallace Foundation, Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation and other individual contributors. We wish to express our gratitude to those who loaned works from their collections: Madeleine Bennett, New York; Chemical Bank, New York; Paula Cooper, New York; Paula Cooper Gallery, New York; Gerald Elliott, Chicago; Sondra Eisenberg, Chicago; Jonathan Fineberg, New York; Gold- man, Sachs & Co., New York; Harriet Hurson, Chicago; Michael Hurson, New York;. ITT Corporation, New York; Julian Leth bridge, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Selle, New York; George H. Waterman III, New York; James D. Wolfensohn, Inc., New York and five who wished to remain anonymous. Our special thanks to the Paula Cooper Gallery, New York and the Dart Gallery, Chicago, for their invaluable assistance in coordinating this exhibition. Published and © 1984 by the Institute for Art and Urban Resources, New York. Essay © 1984 Henry Geldzahler Cover: Artist at Work #5 1981 Catalogue No. 45 Photo: Geoffrey Clements MICHAEL HURSON'S DRAWINGS There is a rare but recurring breed of artist to whom rienced nod of the head in Johns' direction. draughtsmanship is a sacred vocation, at least on a par with Another subject that has intrigued Hurson is the house- the painting for which they are primarily known. Seurat and hold object that is invested with an anthropomorphic energy; Matisse, surely, and more recently Johns, Twombly and, in the triggers for these images occur in the artist's daily life; another vein, David Hockney, all lend their skill and intelli- around the studio and in the street- the ladder, the light pull, gence to drawing as an end in itself, without in any way abdi- the column and the fire hydrant: a collective portrait, one cating their magisterial ways with paint. Of his generation, might say, of Michael Hurson's Soho loft life, perched high Michael Hurson has devoted an extraordinary amount of above the street where Little Italy meets Chinatown. Frag- time, wit and intelligence to making drawings that precede ments stand for the whole and, as in the earlier Overturned and run parallel to his well known paintings ofEyeglasses and Chair drawings, autobiographical revelation hovers insist- Palm Springs tableaux. Indeed, over the past five years ently in the aura projected by the work that at the same time Hurson's major etforts have been in a highly original and maintains its wit and its sense of luxurious means. convincing series of portraits (most often commissioned), in Four chairs: Mom, Dad, Sis and Michael? One is over- pencil, pastel, ink and conte crayon on paper. All the skills of turned. The nuclear family but somewhat awry? Odd chair the modernist draughtsman are available to make post- out? This little vignette became something of an obsession cubist portraits that are psychologically acute in Michael in Michael's work and finally led to his writing a full-length Hurson's good humored and slyly distanced manner. Just as play, Red and Blue, produced in 1982 by Joseph Papp's New Hurson is reluctant to reveal himself too readily, he respects York Shakespeare Theater, in which two light bulbs act as the privacy at the heart of commissioned portraiture-an sensitive observers and participants, speaking in fugue-like ironically public gesture-and is reluctant to pin his sitter strophes around the arcane, unmentionable incident which is down with overly specific attributes; a cup and saucer, a favor- at the heart of the matter. Hurson's play, like his drawings, ite piece of furniture, or most endearingly, a characteristic does not lightly give away the essence that lies at its genesis. turn of the shoulders or head, suffice to speak to us of this sit- We feel a sense of Jamesian delight at the very complications ter and no other. and divagations that are spun round the central subject. Hurson's portrait drawings are vastly knowing histori- Gertrude Stein's hallucinating word portraits of Picasso cally; Picasso, African sculpture (both masks and full and Matisse and Virgil Thomson's prolific keyboard portraits figures), Suprematism, Synthetic Cubism, a glancing refer- of his friends and colleagues helped establish a twentieth cen- ence at times to Saul Steinberg can all be discerned. Jasper tury vein of portraiture in which the whole is built convinc- Johns' sense of luxurious means in establishing the image, ingly of flashes and glimpses, replacing verisimilitude with embedding it in loving complications, clearly is important to poetic truth. Michael Hurson's drawings extend this new tra- Hurson; the hatching that in several of the portraits comes to dition memorably, and with wit. resemble lattice-work in boldness is a deeply felt and re-expe- January 1984 Henry Geldzahler 3 Eyeglass Drawing #14 1970 Catalogue No. 16 Photo: D. James Dee 4 Eyeglass Drawing #15 1971 Catalogue No. 17 Photo: D. James Dee 5 Room Drawing (Overturned Chair) 1971 Catalogue No. 20 Photo: Eric Pollitzer 6 Study for Self-Portrait 1976 Catalogue No. 30 Photo: Don Craig 7 Study for Portrait of Harriet Hurson 1977 Catalogue No. 31 Photo: Eric Pollitzer 8 Study for Portrait of Morton Landowne # I 1981 Catalogue No. 40 Photo: eeva-inkeri 9 ____ _ Co lumn #1 1981 Catalogue No. 41 Photo: Geoffrey Clements 10 Portrait of Nicholas and Lucas Cooper 1981 Catalogue No. 42 Photo: D . James Dee 11 Portrait of Madeleine Bennett 1981 Catalogue No. 43 Photo: Geoffrey Clements 12 Two Columns 1982 Catalogue No. 46 Photo: Geoffrey Clements 13 Portrait of George Waterman 1983 Catalogue No. 53 Photo: Geoffrey Clements 14 CATALOGUE Sofa Drawing # 1 1969 28 Study for Edward and Otto Pfaff 1974 41 Column # I 1981 Charcoal on tracing paper Charcoal on paper Pencil, ink, pastel, conte crayon on paper 183/4 x 23 ¥4" Two drawings: 20 x 43 Yi' overall 22 x 15 " (Reproduced on page 10) Mr. and Mrs. Richard Selle, New York Private collection Paula Cooper Gallery, New York 2 Sofa Drawing #2 1969 29 Study for Portrait ofRobert Moskowitz 42 Portrait of Nicholas and Lucas Cooper Charcoal on tracing paper Pencil, crayon, on paper 1976 Pencil, pastel, conte crayon, 1981 183/4X 23 3,'4" 26 Y4X 12 5/s" gouache on paper. 26 x 40 V2" (Reproduced on Private collection The artist page 11 ) Paula Cooper, New York 3-17 Eyeglass Drawings # 1-15 1969-71 30 Study for Self-Portrait 1976 43 Portrait ofMadeleine Bennett 1981 Charcoal or charcoal and pastel on paper. Vari- Pencil, crayon on vellum Pencil, pastel, ink, conte crayon on paper ous sizes from 7Y2 x 11 " to 11x10'.' (#14 is repro- 2]3/4 x 18 3/4" (Reproduced on page 7) 21 x 14" (Reproduced on page 12) duced on page 4, #15 on page 5). The artist The artist Madeleine Bennett, New York 18 Palm Springs Drawing 1971 31 Study for Portrait ofHarri et Hurson 1977 44 Artist at Work #2 1981 Pastel, charcoal on paper Pencil, crayon on paper Pencil, pastel, conte crayon on paper 11 }'gx 19" 233/4 x 18 3/4'' (Reproduced on page 8) 28 x 19 Y2" The artist Harriet Hurson, Chicago Paula Cooper Gallery, New York 19 Palm Springs Drawing 1971 32 Portrait ofAnnie 1977-80 45 Artist at Work #5 1981 Pastel on paper Pencil, gouache, pastel on paper Pencil, pastel, ink, conte crayon on paper 19x12" 29 V2 x 22 Y2" 27 5/s x 32 Ys'' (Reproduced on cover) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The artist The artist 20 Room Drawing (Overturned Chair) 1971 33 Portrait ofJonathan Fineberg 1979 46 Two Columns 1982 Charcoal on paper Pastel, gouache on paper Pencil, pastel, conte crayon, gouache, ink on 7Y2x12" (Reproduced on·page 6) 30 x 22" paper. Two drawings: 30 x 6" each (Reproduced The artist Jonathan Fineberg, New York on page 13) Goldman, Sachs & Co., New York 21 Motel # / · 1972 34 Portrait ofSondra Eisenberg 1979 47 Chair Drawing # 6 1982 Charcoal on paper Pastel, gouache on paper Pencil, pastel, conte crayon, ink, gouache on 12x19" 28 x 22" vellum. 36 x 19" (Two sheets) Julian Leth bridge, New York Sondra Eisenberg, Chicago Paula Cooper Gallery, New York 22 Mote/ #2 1972 35 Portrait of Gerald Elliott 1980 48 Study for a Composition 1982 Charcoal on paper Pastel, gouache on paper Pencil, ink, pastel, conte crayon on paper 12x19" 30 x 22" 36x18" The artist Gerald Elliott, Chicago Paula Cooper Gallery, New York 23 Mote/ #3 1972 36 Bob 1980 49 Fire Hydrant 1982 Charcoal on paper Pencil, pastel, conte crayon on vellum Pencil. ink, pastel, conte crayon on paper 12x19" I4Y4 x 17" 24 x 19" Paula Cooper Gallery, New York Paula Cooper Gallery, New York Paula Cooper Gallery, New York 24 Mote/ #4 1972 37 Elizabeth 1980 50 Frame # / 1982 Charcoal on paper Pencil, pastel, conte crayon on vellum Pencil, pastel, ink, conte crayon on paper 12x19" 25 3/s x 14" 28 Y2 x 12" Paula Cooper Gallery, New York Paula Cooper Gallery, New York Paula Cooper Gallery, New York 25 Hallway 1972 38 StudyforMar/iesB/ack 1980 51 Baseball Player(at Bat) 1982 Pastel on paper Pencil, pastel on vellum Pencil, pastel, ink, conte crayon on paper 25 Y2 x 15 Ys" 13 x I4 Y2" 21 x I6 Y2" ITT Corporation, New York Private collection Paula Cooper Gallery, New York 26 Overturned Chair 1973 39 Studyfor Rick Black 1981 52 Untitled Drawing 1982 Pencil, pastel on paper Pencil, pastel, conte crayon on vellum Pencil, pastel, ink, conte crayon, gouache on 23 x I7 Y2" 13 Y2 x 12 Y2" paper.