Gretchen Albrecht facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gretchen Albrecht
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| Born | 7 May 1943 Onehunga, New Zealand
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| Education | Elam School of Fine Arts |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Color Field |
Gretchen Albrecht is a famous painter and sculptor from New Zealand. She was born on May 7, 1943. She is known for her unique and colorful abstract paintings. She has also created sculptures.
Contents
Early Life and Art School
Gretchen Albrecht was born in Onehunga, New Zealand, in 1943. She went to Mount Roskill Grammar School. Later, she studied art at the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. She finished her studies in 1963 with a special degree in painting.
Her Artistic Journey
Starting Out as an Artist
When Gretchen Albrecht first started painting, her work often showed people. These paintings were usually about her own life. In the early 1970s, she changed her focus. She began to paint landscapes, gardens, and natural objects.
Around 1970, she also started using thin acrylic paints instead of oil paints. This allowed her to paint more freely. She also used canvases that were not prepared with a base coat. This let the paint soak into the fabric, like watercolor paintings.
Exploring Abstract Art in the 1970s
During the 1970s, Gretchen Albrecht's art became more abstract. This means her paintings did not look like real things anymore. Even so, her ideas often came from looking at nature. She would study places like Auckland's West Coast.
Her painting titles also changed. They became more poetic, like Storm Swell or Penumbra. In 1971, she saw an exhibition of large abstract paintings by an American artist named Morris Louis. This encouraged her to be even bolder with her abstract style.
Developing Her Unique Style
In 1980, Gretchen Albrecht traveled around Europe and the United States. After this trip, her paintings started to refer to famous European artists and art history. She gave her works titles like After Piero or Giotto's Blue.
This was when her special style began to appear. She started using unique shapes for her canvases. One shape she often used was the lunette, which is a half-circle. She called these works Hemispheres. She also used oval-shaped canvases, which she called Ovals. Sometimes, she painted oval shapes on regular rectangular canvases, calling them Roses in the Snow.
Gretchen Albrecht first used the hemisphere shape in 1981. She was living in Dunedin at the time. She said she wanted to "break out of the rectangle" and add curves to her art. She felt that curved shapes had a special feeling. She described them as having a "generosity" that straight edges did not.
In 1985, she created four paintings for an exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery. These works were inspired by the four seasons. She wanted people to feel like they were moving through an environment as they looked at her art. By the late 1980s, she began to explore new shapes, especially the oval.
Gretchen Albrecht's work has been compared to other famous abstract artists. These include Mark Rothko and Helen Frankenthaler. Since the early 2000s, she has also created oval sculptures made of metal.
She received grants from the QE II Arts foundation in 1976, 1978, and 1986. These helped her travel and work in the United States. In 1981, she received the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at the University of Otago. Today, Gretchen Albrecht lives and works in both Auckland, New Zealand, and London, England.
Major Exhibitions
Gretchen Albrecht's art has been shown in many important exhibitions:
- 1964 Contemporary New Zealand Painting, Auckland Art Gallery
- 1975 New Zealand's Women Painters, Auckland Art Gallery
- 1985 Seasonal, artist project at Auckland Art Gallery
- 1986 AFTERnature: Gretchen Albrecht: A Survey – 23 Years, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui; National Art Gallery Wellington
- 1992 Distance Looks Our Way – 10 Artists from New Zealand, EXPO (@ Seville; toured to Leiden, Madrid, Zamora, BArcelona, Auckland Art Gallery, City Gallery Wellington, Manawatu Art Gallery
- 2002 Gretchen Albrecht: Illuminations, Auckland Art Gallery
- 2005–2006 Gretchen Albrecht: Returning, Dunedin Public Art Gallery and City Gallery Wellington
- 2012 Gretchen Albrecht: A Luminous Shade, Tauranga Art Gallery
Awards and Recognitions
Gretchen Albrecht has received several important awards for her art.
- In 2000, she was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. This was for her great contributions to painting.
- In 2007, she received a special donation from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.
Where Her Art Is Kept
Gretchen Albrecht's paintings and sculptures are held in major public art collections across New Zealand. These include:
