May 20, 1958
All artists living or teaching in Brooklyn or Long Island, or having a summer residence on the Island, are cordially invited to submit works on April 11 and 12 for a large exhibition of art in all mediums to be held at the Brooklyn Museum from May 20 to September 1, 1958. Two works only may be submitted by each artist. The jury is composed of Edmond Casarella and Robert Gwathmey, artists, and Mrs. Hertha Wegener, Assistant Curator of Paintings and Sculpture for the Museum. There is no entry fee. Four prizes of $100 each are offered by Abraham & Straus, the Brooklyn Borough Gas Co. and by Martin’s.
In addition to the large juried section of the exhibition, there will be a small number of invited works.
Entry blanks may be obtained from the Museum’s Department of Paintings and Sculpture.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1953 - 1970. 1958, 026. View Original
May 20, 1958
A hundred painters, sculptors and graphic artists of Brooklyn and Long Island will be represented by major works in an exhibition to be on view in the Brooklyn Museum’s Special Exhibitions Galleries from May 20 through September 1. Except for a small invited section, the works of art were selected by a jury composed of Edmond Casarella and Robert Gwathmey, artists, and Hertha Wegener, the Museum’s Assistant Curator of Paintings and Sculpture. Mrs. Wegener organized the exhibition and prepared an illustrated catalog.
Three prizes of a $100-dollar U.S. Savings Bond each and one cash prize of $100 as well as three Honorable Mentions are being awarded to artists all of whom happen to live or teach in Brooklyn:
Prize-winners:
Sidney Gordin is winner of an award for his metal abstract sculpture entitled “Contruction 1957.” Gordin, who was born in Russia and came to this country in 1922 at the age of 4, first studied painting and drawIng. In 1949 he began his metal sculpture work and has not painted since. His sculpture was first shown in 1951 in the Metropolitan Museum’s American Sculpture Exhibition, and has subsequently been seen in numerous one-man shows.
John Von Wicht, prize-winner for his abstract painting “Waving Banners,” came to the U.S. from Germany in 1923 when he was 35 years old. He had already sold paintings to museums and won prizes and scholarships abroad. In addition to painting he had studied applied art mosaics and the techniques of stained glass. Wounded in the German Army in World War I, he was threatened for several years with paralysis. In this country during the depression he worked on WPA mural projects, and in 1937 developed for the first time his interest in geometric shapes and new discipline of abstract design. His work is in many museums, including the Metropolitan and the Whitney. He now spends much time in the Yaddo and MacDowell colonies and in Vermont.
Reuben Tam wins an award for his sombre abstraction, “Monhegan Night.” Born in 1916 in Hawaii where he taught art and English, he was able to paint only in his spare time. In 1941 he came to New York and studied at the New School and at Columbia. He now teaches at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. His work has been widely exhibited and the list of his other awards is long.
Aubrey Schwartz, born 30 years ago in Brooklyn, is a winner in graphics for his sensitive drawing “Despairing Woman.” He studied at the Art Students League in 1949 and at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in 1952, had a one-man gallery exhibition in 1956 and was included in the Whitney Museum’s “Young America” show in 1957. Having also just won a Guggenheim Fellowship, he no longer will have to make a living as a color film processor.
The prizes were generously donated by Abraham and Straus (two prizes), the Brooklyn Borough Gas Company and Martin’s.
Honorable Mentions go to Ralph Dubin and Walter Williams, painters both of whom studied at the Brooklyn Museum Art School; and to Chaim Koppelman, graphic artist who teaches at Brooklyn College.
Notable works are shown by many well-known artists including Theodoros Stamos with a large, hitherto not exhibited abstract canvas; Abraham Rattner’s colorful “Moses”; George Tooker’s meticulously painted scene of women hanging up laundry; a bright red collage by Grace Hartigan; Adolph Gottlieb; Jimmy Ernst; and sculptors such as William Zorach with a stone torso, David Hare, Mary Callery and Calvin Albert, among others.
Photographs available: Betty Chamberlain
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1953 - 1970. 1958, 033-34. View Original
