Irving Kriesberg

Irving Kriesberg (born 1919, Chicago) is an American painter.

Education

1938: College of Jewish Studies, Mural painting.1938-1940: The Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago, BFA.
1941-1944: Callejon Esmeralda (Government School of Painting & Sculpture); Taller De Grafica Popular print studio, Mexico City.
1968: New York University, New York City, MFA in Film Studies.

Career

Kriesberg's interest in art began in cartooning in high school in Chicago. In the 1930s he also spent many days sketching the work of the great masters Titian and Rembrandt when visiting The Art Institute of Chicago. In the late 1930s he came under the influence of modern art from seeing artists of the School of Paris in exhibitions prominently exhibited in Chicago art museums. Shortly after graduation from the Art Institute of Chicago he traveled to Mexico City in 1942 to paint and teach. There he was influenced by the local people and the informal nature of life and art school at the Escuela de Artes Plasticas. In Mexico City he also learned wood block etching or "grabado" and printing at The Taller De Grafica Popular the influential print workshop. There Kriesberg participated in several exhibitions presented by the TGP workshop. TGP's cast of socially conscience artists and instructors included Pablo O 'Higgins, Leopoldo Mendez, & Luis Arenal, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros; all of who provided Kriesberg useful insights. TGP's socially aware artists left a deep impression on Kriesberg and the work that he made there and going forward. His wood block prints of the period were created mostly in black ink on white paper. They are powerful anti-fascist/anti-war themes created in mixed social realist/expressionist style with overtones of Max Beckmann.

Around the same time Kriesberg was included in a number of important museum group exhibitions in the United States at The Art Institute of Chicago and Cincinnati Art Museum in 1941. Living back in America in 1945 Kriesberg moved to New York City. In 1946 he was in a two person show organized by The Art Institute of Chicago. More groups shows followed in 1948-1949 at The Pennsylvania Academy and The Pepsi Cola National contest. In New York Kriesberg came under the influence of and became the protégé to sculptor Jacques Lipchitz. Lipchitz introduced Kriesberg to his art dealer Curt Valentin who owned a prominent up town gallery. Shortly thereafter Valentin recommended Kriesberg to curator Dorothy Miller at The Museum of Modern Art. Miller included Kriesberg in a 1951 'New Talent' exhibition at MoMA (and again in 1957). His big break came when Miller included Kriesberg in the landmark 1952 exhibition "15 AMERICANS"at MoMA. In addition to Kriesberg "15 AMERICANS" included and significantly substantiated the careers of abstractionist painters Jackson Pollock, William Baziotes, Clifford Still, Edward Corbett, Richard Lippold, Herbert Ferber, Mark Rothko, Bradley Walker Tomlin, as well as Edwin Dickinson and Frederick Keisler. In 1953 Curt Valentin included Kriesberg in a five person group show at his gallery. Then in 1955 Kriesberg had his New York City solo debut at Curt Valentin Gallery. Valentin died around the time of that solo Kriesberg exhibition. Kriesberg was then picked up by Duveen Graham Gallery in New York and later Graham Modern the forerunner of the current Graham Gallery in New York.

Since then Kriesberg has had over 33 solo gallery exhibitions. He has exhibited regularly since 1951 at such venues as Gertrude Kassel Gallery, Detroit, Terry Ditenfass Gallery, Inger Gallery, Martha Jackson Gallery, Katharina Rich Perlow, Peter Findlay Gallery, and Lori Bookstein Gallery. He has been given numerous museum solo shows nationally including a major career retrospective at the Jewish Museum in 1961 and a second retrospective at The Everson Art Museum in 1980. The Jewish Museum retrospective exhibition and catalog was a joint venture with Graham Modern Gallery. The joint exhibition catalog included an essay by Allan Kaprow and Stephen Kayser.

Kriesberg has received two Ford Foundation Grants, two Pollock-Krasner Awards, a National Endowment for the Arts Award, a Fulbright Fellowship, the Guggenheim Foundation Memorial Award and many other honorariums. In addition, Kriesberg has held several important teaching positions including Yale University Graduate School 1962-1971; Washington University St. Louis, State University New York 1972-1977; Columbia University 1977-1979. Kriesberg has had three books on color and art theory published since 1955. In addition he created a number of well received animated short films including "Pastoral", 1954 with music by Douglas Townsend and "Out of Into" . "Pastoral" was shown at his 1961 retrospective exhibition at The Jewish Museum in New York. Kriesberg has had numerous bibliography references written about him by a wide range of prominent art critics, museum curators and art scholars.

Irving Kriesberg's paintings are held in the permanent collection of over 60 American art museums including The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Corcoran Gallery, The Brooklyn Museum, The Detroit Museum of Art, The Kresge Art Museum, the National Museum of American Art, The Butler Institute of American Art, The Birmingham Museum of Art, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, The Dayton Art Institute, The Allentown Art Museum, The Boca Raton Museum of Art, The Rose Art Museum, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, The Scottsdale MoCA, The Crocker Art Museum, and many other museums.

Exhibitions

*"EXPOSICION', lITHOGRAFIA Y GRABADO; TALLER DE GRAFICA POPULAR", REGINE 114. August 8-19 1944.
*"15 AMERICANS", curated by Dorothy Miller. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Exhibition catalog. 1952.
*"IRVING KRIESBERG, April 26-May 14 1955". Curt Valentin Gallery, New York.Exhibition catalog.
*"Young Painters in Rome", 1955. ARTS Digest, essay by Dore Ashton June 1, 1955.
*"Irving Kriesberg", Duveen Graham Gallery; Exhibition catalog. March 1957.
*"IRVING KRIESBERG" The Jewish Museum, New York, NY October 24- December 17, 1961. Exhibition catalog with essays by Allan Kaprow & curator Stephen Kayser.
*"Ten Independents", The Guggenheim Museum, New York. Essay by Dore Ashton. Exhibition catalog., 1972.
*"The 50th Anniversary Exhibition", The Whitney Museum of American Art. Exhibition catalog.1980.
*"IRVING KRIESBERG Paintings and Works on Paper", October 10-November 9, 1985. Graham Modern Gallery,New York. Exhibition catalog. 1985.
*"IRVING KREISBERG PAINTINGS"; St.Mary's College Gallery, Skidmore College, St. Cloud University, Exhibition catalog. 1987.
*"Irving Kriesberg Sculpture", Lori Bookstein Gallery New York. With essay "Irving Kriesberg's Stoneware Sculpture" by Martica Sawin. December 2000.
*"Irving Kriesberg, A Lifetime of Achievement, Paintings from 1952-2002". Peter Findlay Gallery, New York. Exhibition catalog; Essay by April Kingsley. May 2-31, 2002.
*"Artist of The Month Irving Kriesberg". Essay brochure. The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. March 2003.Art In America: "Irving Kriesberg at Peter Findlay". Exhibition review by Elisa Decker. April 2005.Irving Kriesberg taped audio interview by Philip Douglas Heilman. New York, NY. 2006-2007.