Gerrie Gutmann | |
---|---|
Born | Gerrie Current 1921 California, U.S. |
Died | 1969 (aged 47–48) San Francisco, California |
Other names | Gerrie von Pribosic Gutmann, Gerrie von Pribosic, Gerrie Bollas |
Education | Stickney Memorial Art School |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Post-surrealist |
Gerrie J. Gutmann, also known as Gerrie Current, Gerrie von Pribosic, Gerrie Bollas (1921–1969) was an American post-surrealist painter from California. The imagery in her paintings was fantasy and often overlapped with autobiographical themes, expressing her struggles for an identity as a woman, an artist, and a mother. [1] [2]
She was born as Gerrie Current in 1921. [3] She studied at the Stickney Memorial Art School in Pasadena in 1939 with painter Lorser Feitelson, a post-surrealist who painted in a more abstract hard-edged style. [4] She was primarily a self taught artist. [5] “[H]er subscription to View and trips to Mexico and Europe...[helped to] familiarized herself with surrealist works.” [5] Feitelson introduced her to artist Viktor von Pribosic (1909–1959), they were married and moved to Oregon however the marriage ended in divorce by 1945. [6] The divorce caused a custody battle over their son, and in much of her work the imagery of childhood and loss are persistent. [6]
Surrealism is visible in Self Portrait (1946) where Gutmann adorns herself with biomorphic forms that suggest female genitalia symbolizing a birth, or rebirth process. [5]
By 1948, she had her first solo exhibition which traveled to multiple locations, including the Gallery Vivienne and Bonestall Gallery (both in New York), and the Harvey Weltch Gallery in Portland Oregon [7] Gutmann was accorded solo shows at the de Young Museum in San Francisco in 1949, 1952, and 1964. [7]
In 1949 she moved to Northern California and married photographer, John Gutmann. [6]
During the 1950s, she rejected the trend among West Coast artists for abstraction over fantastic imagery and so became isolated from other artists. [5] This is due to her having found a style that was best suited to express her inner turmoil and search for an identity as a woman, artist and mother. [8]
“The work of Gutmann along with that of Dorr Bothwell, Eugene Berman and the Post-Surrealists are considered to belong to a broad sphere of illusionistic fantasy loosely termed magic realism. [9] Those who look into her work find that she is more explicitly autobiographical and provided a release from the difficulties of her life- her abandonment by her father, the loss of her son, failed marriages, and alcoholism. [8] [1] [7]
Gerrie Gutmann and John Gutmann divorced in May 1964. [10] [11]
Gutmann committed suicide in 1969, in her home on Sacramento Street in San Francisco. [3] [6] [7] During her life she had thirteen art exhibitions in museums and galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, New York and Portland, Oregon. [8]
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art retains in the permanent collection her painting, Death of the Bullfighter (1952) acquired in 2000 bequest by her second husband John Gutmann. [12] The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has her painting, The Theft (1952) in their collection as gift from David and Jeanne Carlson of the Carlson Gallery. [13]
Mrs. Bollas died unexpectedly Thursday in her residence, 3109 Sacramento St. She was 48
Gerrie Gutmann | |
---|---|
Born | Gerrie Current 1921 California, U.S. |
Died | 1969 (aged 47–48) San Francisco, California |
Other names | Gerrie von Pribosic Gutmann, Gerrie von Pribosic, Gerrie Bollas |
Education | Stickney Memorial Art School |
Known for | Painting |
Movement | Post-surrealist |
Gerrie J. Gutmann, also known as Gerrie Current, Gerrie von Pribosic, Gerrie Bollas (1921–1969) was an American post-surrealist painter from California. The imagery in her paintings was fantasy and often overlapped with autobiographical themes, expressing her struggles for an identity as a woman, an artist, and a mother. [1] [2]
She was born as Gerrie Current in 1921. [3] She studied at the Stickney Memorial Art School in Pasadena in 1939 with painter Lorser Feitelson, a post-surrealist who painted in a more abstract hard-edged style. [4] She was primarily a self taught artist. [5] “[H]er subscription to View and trips to Mexico and Europe...[helped to] familiarized herself with surrealist works.” [5] Feitelson introduced her to artist Viktor von Pribosic (1909–1959), they were married and moved to Oregon however the marriage ended in divorce by 1945. [6] The divorce caused a custody battle over their son, and in much of her work the imagery of childhood and loss are persistent. [6]
Surrealism is visible in Self Portrait (1946) where Gutmann adorns herself with biomorphic forms that suggest female genitalia symbolizing a birth, or rebirth process. [5]
By 1948, she had her first solo exhibition which traveled to multiple locations, including the Gallery Vivienne and Bonestall Gallery (both in New York), and the Harvey Weltch Gallery in Portland Oregon [7] Gutmann was accorded solo shows at the de Young Museum in San Francisco in 1949, 1952, and 1964. [7]
In 1949 she moved to Northern California and married photographer, John Gutmann. [6]
During the 1950s, she rejected the trend among West Coast artists for abstraction over fantastic imagery and so became isolated from other artists. [5] This is due to her having found a style that was best suited to express her inner turmoil and search for an identity as a woman, artist and mother. [8]
“The work of Gutmann along with that of Dorr Bothwell, Eugene Berman and the Post-Surrealists are considered to belong to a broad sphere of illusionistic fantasy loosely termed magic realism. [9] Those who look into her work find that she is more explicitly autobiographical and provided a release from the difficulties of her life- her abandonment by her father, the loss of her son, failed marriages, and alcoholism. [8] [1] [7]
Gerrie Gutmann and John Gutmann divorced in May 1964. [10] [11]
Gutmann committed suicide in 1969, in her home on Sacramento Street in San Francisco. [3] [6] [7] During her life she had thirteen art exhibitions in museums and galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, New York and Portland, Oregon. [8]
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art retains in the permanent collection her painting, Death of the Bullfighter (1952) acquired in 2000 bequest by her second husband John Gutmann. [12] The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has her painting, The Theft (1952) in their collection as gift from David and Jeanne Carlson of the Carlson Gallery. [13]
Mrs. Bollas died unexpectedly Thursday in her residence, 3109 Sacramento St. She was 48