FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SONIA GECHTOFF
Forces of Nature on the Grand Stage:
Paintings from 1988 to 1995

September 10 - October 5, 2019

Opening Reception: Sunday, September 15. 2019 4:00 - 7:00 PM


David Richard Gallery, LLC
211 East 121 ST | New York, NY 10035
P: (212) 882-1705
www.davidrichardgallery.com

David Richard Gallery is pleased to present, Forces of Nature on the Grand Stage: Paintings from 1988 to 1995, a solo exhibition of paintings by artist Sonia Gechtoff (1926 Philadelphia, PA - 2018, New York, NY). At first glance these paintings seem very different from the artist’s earlier works from the 1950s and 60s with their large passages of a single hue, defined shapes and representational elements. However, closer examination and comparative analysis reveals far more formal and aesthetic similarities throughout the artist’s oeuvre and nearly seven-decade career. And, what might seem like significant differences are really just extensions and grander manifestations of the hallmarks of and inspiration for Gechtoff’s paintings and graphite drawings from the 1950s and 60s.

The current exhibition looks critically at a selection of paintings from 1988 to 1995 that are organized roughly into two visual groups. First, those that have a range of any of the following structures: architectural elements that function as framing devices, visual portals to direct the viewer’s attention, an arching structure like the proscenium of a theatre stage or columnar structures. The second group has more of an emphasis on forces of nature including waves, wind and fire as well as spherical structures that reference the sun, moon and celestial bodies. Gechtoff referred to these spheres in the 1960s as “Icons”, inspired by her Russian heritage and interest in religious iconography.

An important realization from the analysis is that the later career paintings clearly reference and continue Gechtoff’s painting style and approach from the 1950s and 60s with her strong, bold and physical strokes with the palette knife, regal colors and thick application of medium to not only apply pigment to the canvas, but to simultaneously build and sculpt the surface with texture and the artist’s hand fully present, melding with the pigment to create something utterly dynamic and spectacular with strong undercurrents of sweeping movement across the canvas. Also notable is the continued use of black for the grounds in her later works, but with larger fields of saturated color than in her paintings from the 1950s, which was coincident with her move to New York from San Francisco in the late 50s. Another striking feature in her later works is the use of graphite on top of the painted surfaces to add definition, provide modeling and bringing drawing together with painting. A small selection of paintings, drawings and lithographs from the 1950s and 60s will also be available to illustrate several of these formal and compositional similarities between the decades.

Many of the features discussed and exhibited in the paintings from the 80s and 90s were always present in her paintings in the 1950s and 60s. Clearly, between these two periods, Gechtoff initially used an oil stick instead of graphite to define and accentuate her compositions, oil medium instead of acrylic to apply pigment, and a palette knife instead of a brush to move the pigment and create the lush surfaces. However, the real visual and compositional difference is that in the 80s, the artist also made a conscious decision to shift her focus from just the gesture and nuancing her interests in nature and architecture by reducing them to a surface treatment and textural detail of her paintings to blowing them up and making that imagery the focus of the composition and center stage.

Gechtoff was fascinated with forces of nature and she herself was a force of nature on many levels, as an artist, wife, mother, teacher and colleague. She was inspired by her passion for art, but also grand opera, theatre and the stage. Gechtoff painted with the opera at full volume, which transported her to a different place and unleashed a power that brought together bold pigment, slashing strokes, swirling texture and forces from beyond to create a raging storm or inferno on her canvas.

The exhibition, Sonia Gechtoff, Forces of Nature on the Grand Stage: Paintings from 1988 to 1995, will be on view from September 10 through October 5, 2019 with an opening reception on Sunday, September 15, 2019 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM on the Ground Floor exhibition space at 211 East 121 ST, New York, NY 10035. A digital catalog will be available online. Please contact the gallery at info@DavidRichardGallery.com or call 212-882-1705 for additional information.


About Sonia Gechtoff:

Sonia Gechtoff, was born and raised in Philadelphia. After graduating in 1950 from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, she moved to San Francisco in 1951 where she was greatly influenced by the painting of Clyfford Still. She taught at the California School of Fine Art working alongside Hassel Smith and Elmer Bischoff and associated with other Bay Area Abstract Expressionist painters such as Madeleine Diamond, Lilly Fenichel, Deborah Remington, Jay DeFeo and James Kelly (who she later married). San Francisco had a tremendous impact on Gechtoff, she was very much involved in the unique cultural scene and felt the local support. It is where she had her greatest career achievements, such as developing her bold use of the palette knife to create long, sharp strokes of pigment across the canvas and the corresponding early recognition with solo exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Art (currently SFMoMA) and De Young Museum. Gechtoff moved to New York in 1958 and worked there until she passed away in early 2018. Given her interests in figuration, architecture, landscape and earth elements, representational elements became more prevalent in her paintings and drawings, while abstraction and gestural brush strokes remained constant. She switched from oil to acrylic paint and traded the palette knife for graphite to maintain strong defining strokes and boundaries in her work.

Gechtoff’s artworks are included in the permanent collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; Achenbach Foundation, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Denver Art Museum, Colorado; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Academy of Design, New York; Oakland Museum of Art, California; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Museum of Art, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California; and Worcester Museum of Art, Massachusetts, among others. Most recently, her paintings were included in the very important exhibition, Women of Abstract Expressionism at the Denver Museum of Art in 2016 that subsequently traveled to the Mint Museum and the Palm Springs Museum of Art in 2017.


About David Richard Gallery:
Since its inception in 2010, David Richard Gallery has produced museum quality exhibitions that feature Post War abstraction in the US. The presentations have addressed specific decades and geographies as well as certain movements and tendencies. While the gallery has long been recognized as an important proponent of post-1960s abstraction—including both the influential pioneers as well as a younger generation of practitioners in this field— in keeping with this spirit of nurture and development the gallery also presents established artists who embrace more gestural and representational approaches to the making of art as well as young emerging artists.

In 2015 David Richard Gallery launched DR Art Projects to provide a platform for artists of all stripes—international, national, local, emerging and established—to present special solo projects or to participate in unique collaborations or thematic exhibitions. The goal is to offer a fresh look at contemporary art practice from a broad spectrum of artists and presentations. The Gallery opened its current location in New York in 2017.

All Artwork Copyright © Sonia Gechtoff Estate, Courtesy David Richard Gallery, LLC.


For additional information please contact:
David Eichholtz, Manager
Mobile: 917-853-8161
D@DavidRichardGallery.com
David Richard Gallery, LLC
211 East 121st ST., New York, NY 10035
P: 212-882-1705
www.DavidRichardGallery.com


Sonia Gechtoff, Paestum, 1991, Acrylic on canvas, 60.5 x 54.5"

Source Link:   More information

Associated Artist

• Sonia Gechtoff

Associated Exhibitions

• Sonia Gechtoff Forces of Nature on the Grand Stage: Paintings from 1988 to 1995
  September 10, 2019 - October 26, 2019
  MORE INFO

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• October 12, 2019
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• September 9, 2019
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• September 4, 2019
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• August 28, 2019
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• March 14, 2018
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• February 9, 2018
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• February 9, 2018
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• February 8, 2018
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• May 22, 2017
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• June 23, 2016
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• February 22, 2015
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• April 13, 2014
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• October 17, 2011
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• January 20, 2011
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