Curated by Jason Andrew in association with the Estate of Jack Tworkov
(Provincetown,
MA): Provincetown Art Association and Museum
(PAAM) is pleased to present a major retrospective exhibition of works
by
renowned American painter, Jack Tworkov (1900-1982). Jack Tworkov:
Against
Extremes / Five Decades of Painting will be on view July 9 to August 22,
2010.
The public is invited to attend an opening reception Friday, July 9,
from
8-10pm in the PAAM galleries. PAAM is located at 460 Commercial Street,
Provincetown, MA 02657. 508.487.1750. www.paam.org.
Portrait of Jack Twokrov, Provincetown, 1959. Photo by Marvin P. Lazarus
Jack Tworkov: Against
Extremes / Five Decades of Painting is curated by
Jason Andrew
and presented in association with the Estate of Jack Tworkov. This
major retrospective, which hit the New York Art World last summer, arrives on the Cape in an expanded
format with important loans from private and public collections
including The Cleveland
Museum of Art and the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN). The exhibition
features rarely exhibited works from the artist's estate, as well as
works from
Provincetown Art Association and Museum's own permanent collection offering an
extraordinary opportunity to experience many of the artist's most
celebrated
canvases.
A founding member of the New York School, Jack Tworkov is regarded as
one of the defining figures -- along with Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston,
Franz Kline and Jackson Pollock -- whose gestural paintings and dramatic
strokes defined the Abstract Expressionist movement in America.
"Many of Tworkov's great masterpieces were inspired by the solace
and solitude he found in Provincetown.The summers Tworkov spent in Provincetown were often the most productive
and so it is exciting to see many of the artists' most important works
returning for exhibition at the Provincetown Association and Museum this
summer," says curator Jason Andrew. PAAM will also offer a free public lecture
with Jason Andrew on Tuesday, July 13 at 7PM as part of the Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series.
Jack
Tworkov: Against Extremes / Five Decades of Painting is accompanied by
an
illustrative catalogue that includes an essay by David Anfam, the noted
historian and Mark Rothko scholar.
Jack Tworkov (American, 1900-1982). Crest, 1958. Oil on canvas, 190.5 x 149.8 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1962.33
Highlights
of the exhibition range
from the
artist's early Provincetown period, to Social Realist paintings of the
1930s,
to figurative abstractions of the 1940s, to major Abstract Expressionist
canvases of the 1950s and early 1960s, and finally to the geometrically
inspired late paintings of the 1970s and early 1980s. Challenging
himself
throughout his five decade career, Tworkov said he was interested in
"the
extreme of the middle - the creative middle," struggling to surpass
external pressures to conform to a particular style, while also fighting
an
internal battle of self-definition.
JACK
TWORKOV IN PROVINCETOWN. Jack
Tworkov was a fixture in the Provincetown art scene beginning in the early
1920s when he and his sister, the painter Janice Biala, first hitchhiked their
way to the Cape to study with Charles Hawthorne. Seeking a more modern
instructional approach, Tworkov sought out and befriended artists Ross Moffett
and Karl Knaths. Edwin Dickinson would also become a close ally and life-long
friend.
Tworkov left Provincetown
in the mid 1930s finding the town over-run by tourists, but returned in the mid
1950s to discover that, "what I came for was still here."In 1958, Tworkov purchased a house in
Provincetown's West End and built a studio.He and his wife, Wally, divided their time between New York
and Cape Cod, spending at least five months of the year in Provincetown and
often hosting an annual Christmas or New Year'sparty. In 1968, he was a founding member of Provincetown's
Fine Arts Work Center along with Fritz Bultman, Stanley Kunitz, Philip
Malicoat, Robert Motherwell and Myron Stout. Tworkov died at his home in
Provincetown in 1982.In 1983,
Provincetown Art Association and Museum held a memorial exhibition in his
honor, featuring a selection of the artist's late paintings.
the contents of this
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contents of this site may not be reproduced in any form without the
written request and permission granted by the Estate of Jack Tworkov. (C) 2008 Estate of Jack Tworkov. All Rights Reserved.
