Adolph Gottlieb (American, 1903-1974)
Adolph Gottlieb began a storied career under the leadership of John Sloan and Robert Henri at the Art Students League of New York. Departing for Paris in 1921 to study at the Academie de la Grand Chaumiere before returning to New York in 1923. Gottlieb’s career is described as having four phases: Pictographs (1940s), Grids and Imaginary Landscapes (1951-1957), Busts (1957-1974), and Imaginary Landscapes (1960s). Gottlieb is perhaps best known for working in an Abstract Expressionist style similar to Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnet Newman.
Information courtesy of Garth’s Auctions, November 2014.
As a member of the Abstract Expressionist avant-garde and catalyst for the Irascibles, Adolph Gottlieb is one of the greatest exponents of the New York School. Deeply influenced by the work of Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko, Gottlieb interpreted abstraction in a highly distinctive and symbolic style.
After investigating different genres of painting and techniques, Gottlieb abandoned the grid that characterized the structure of his Pictography series from the 1940s. Although the artist left the mythology and symbolism originating from his consciousness of European modernists, such as Klee, Picasso, and the Surrealists that were key elements in his early works; in his late works Gottlieb preserved his fascination toward the mystery of the Jungian unconscious and through his art he aspired to create an inner dialogue with the viewer. Gottlieb’s intent was to “go forward nature”. As a result abstraction becomes a new realism and the artist is ultimately able to communicate his personal message through his symbolic language.
Information courtesy of Sotheby’s September, 2008.