Estate of Jake Berthot [1939 – 2014]
Jake Berthot
Paintings and Drawings
October 17- November 30, 2013
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 17, 6 – 8 PM
“In an ugly time, Beauty is held in suspicion.”
~Jake Berthot, summer 2013
Betty Cuningham Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by Jake Berthot including both paintings and drawings. This will be the artist’s fifth exhibition at the Gallery, located at 541 West 25th Street, New York, NY. The artist will be present for an opening reception on Thursday, October 17th, from 6 – 8 PM.
Since the late 1960’s Jake Berthot has been known for his distinctive brushwork (an admirer of Milton Resnick), his characteristic softly-drawn line, his sensitive touch, his rich color, and his incorporation of the frame into his painting. These elements are found in his earlier, more formal, abstract work as well as in his recent subtle landscape paintings.
The current exhibition includes approximately 16 paintings and 8 drawings, all completed in the last two years. Each painting or drawing, whether a broad landscape, a single tree or a still life, seem to coalesce into a single, deeply felt image. For example, in Coming Night and Ridge Line, both completed in 2013, a distant mountain emerges slowly in the light of a dark night space. Similarly, in Untitled (Tree), 2013 the tree which dominates the canvas comes into focus gradually from Berthot’s quiet touch. In the still-life, Table and Skull, 2012, the objects take form creating a poetic dialogue between object and paint. Finally providing the emotional bookends to this exhibition are two works: Hydrangeas and Blue Vase, 2012 and Little Black Skull Painting, 2012. The former is filled with light while the later is small and dark, revealing a deep cord of emotion.
The Artist, Accord, NY July 2013] Jake Berthot was born in Niagara Falls, NY in 1939. He attended the New School for Social Research and Pratt Institute in the early 1960’s and has been exhibiting in New York since the early 1970’s. The artist has held teaching positions at Cooper Union, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, and currently is teaching at The School of Visual Arts. He has received a number of awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1981, a National Endowment for the Arts Grant in 1983 and an Academy Institute Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1992. Berthot’s work can be seen in a host of notable museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, all in New York City. Nationally, his work can be found in the collections of The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, the Museum of Art, University of California, Berkeley, CA, among numerous others. The artist currently lives and works in upstate New York.
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