Jane Freilicher facts for kids

Jane Freilicher (born November 19, 1924 – died December 9, 2014) was an American painter. She was known for her beautiful paintings of city scenes and country views. She painted what she saw from her homes in lower Manhattan and Water Mill, Long Island. In the 1950s, she was part of a group of artists and writers called the New York School. Many poets and writers found inspiration in her work.

Freilicher was a central figure among important New York painters and poets. This group included artists like Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Grace Hartigan, Fairfield Porter, and Larry Rivers. It also included poets such as John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Frank O’Hara, and James Schuyler. Jane Freilicher was one of the few women artists who showed their work alongside male artists at that time.

In 1996, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton, New York.

Jane Freilicher's Life Story

Jane Niederhoffer was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19, 1924. Her parents were Martin, a linguist, and Bertha, a musician. From a young age, Jane loved to paint and draw. She felt a strong desire to create beautiful things. She thought she might work in art, not for fame, but because she loved beautiful things.

When she was 17, she married Jack Freilicher, a jazz pianist. They were married for about five years. Later, in 1952, she met Joe Hazan. He was a businessman who later became a painter. Jane and Joe married in 1957. They had one daughter named Elizabeth.

Jane lived and worked on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. She and Joe also had a summer home in Water Mill on Long Island. Joe Hazan passed away in 2012. Jane Freilicher died in Manhattan in 2014, at the age of 90. She is remembered by her daughter, Elizabeth Hazan, who is also a painter, and her three grandchildren.

Jane Freilicher's Art and Style

Jane Freilicher, Champion Flowers, a painting from 1999.

Jane Freilicher studied art with a famous teacher named Hans Hofmann. She earned her first degree from Brooklyn College in 1947. She then received her master's degree in 1948 from Columbia University's Teacher's College.

At first, she painted in an abstract style, influenced by Hofmann. But then, she found her own unique style. She began to create "softly brushed, meditative" paintings of still lifes and landscapes. A still life is a painting of objects that do not move, like a bowl of fruit or a vase of flowers.

She often painted scenes from her windows in lower Manhattan and Water Mill. Her city paintings often show a vase of flowers in the front. Behind the flowers, you can see the city, with the Hudson River in the distance. Her Long Island paintings feature nearby fields and sometimes Mecox Bay.

Art critics admired her work. One critic, Hilton Kramer, said she was a leading painter of her time. Another critic, Franklin Einspruch, compared her to a famous Italian painter, Giorgio Morandi. Besides paintings, Freilicher also made woodcut, intaglio, and lithograph prints.

In 1952, she began showing her art at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery. This gallery was also known for working with poets.

In 2013, an exhibition called "Jane Freilicher: Painter Among Poets" was held in New York City. It showed how she inspired poets like James Schuyler, Frank O’Hara, and Kenneth Koch. The exhibition later traveled to Chicago in 2014.

Jane Freilicher and the New York School

In the 1950s, Jane Freilicher became part of an informal group called the New York School. This group included many talented writers and artists.

Freilicher was a very important person in this group. She became close friends with many poets. She also inspired them and served as a "muse." A muse is someone who gives an artist ideas and inspiration. The poets often asked for her advice on their poems.

Many poets wrote about her. Frank O’Hara wrote several poems that included her name in the titles. Both John Ashbery and O’Hara dedicated books of their poetry to her.

Her friends and fellow artists in this group included Larry Rivers, Grace Hartigan, and Fairfield Porter. Other women artists like Nell Blaine and Helen Frankenthaler also showed their work at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery.

Jane Freilicher's personal papers, including poems and photographs, are now kept at the Houghton Library at Harvard University. These papers show her relationships with the New York School writers and artists.

Awards and Recognition

• 1974 - American Association of University Women Fellowship
• 1976 - National Endowment of the Arts Grant
• 1987 - Saltus Gold Medal, National Academy of Design
• 1996 - Academy of the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2005 - Gold Medal for Painting, American Academy of Arts and Letter

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

• Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, (12 exhibitions through 1967), 1952
• Cord Gallery, Southampton, New York, 1968
• Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, 1970
• John Bernard Myers Gallery, New York, 1971
• Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York, 1972
• Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York, 1974
• Fischbach Gallery, New York, 1975
• Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, 1976
• Fischbach Gallery, New York, 1977
• Fischbach Gallery, New York, 1979
• Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, 1979

Where to See Her Art (Collections)

You can find Jane Freilicher's paintings in many famous art museums, including:

• Brooklyn Museum, New York
• Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
• Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• Museum of Modern Art, New York
• National Academy Museum and School, New York
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
• Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Utah