Leon Golub facts for kids

Leon Golub (born January 23, 1922 – died August 8, 2004) was an American painter. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He also studied there, earning his first degree from the University of Chicago in 1942. Later, he received his art degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1949 and 1950.

He was married to and worked with the artist Nancy Spero. Their three sons, Stephen, Philip, and Paul, all became successful in their own fields.

Early Life and Art

Leon Golub was born in Chicago in 1922. After getting his first degree, he joined the army. From 1947 to 1949, he studied art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Many students there were veterans, like Golub. Their art often showed the tough times of war and the Cold War.

At SAIC, he met Nancy Spero, who became his wife and fellow artist. Golub helped create the "Momentum Exhibitions" in 1948–1949. These shows were a protest by students who felt left out of a big art exhibition.

In Chicago, Golub joined a group of artists called the "Monster Roster." This name was given to them because their art often showed strange or powerful figures. They believed art should connect to real-world events and feelings. This idea stayed with Golub throughout his career.

The "Monster Roster" artists became well-known in the 1950s. Their work was featured in art magazines and important exhibitions, like the Museum of Modern Art's New Images of Man show in 1959.

Leon Golub's Art Career

Golub always painted in a style that showed human figures. He got ideas from many places, like ancient Greek and Roman sculptures. He also used photos from newspapers and magazines. He painted by layering and scraping away paint, sometimes using a tool like a meat cleaver. This made his paintings look like sculptures.

From 1959 to 1964, Golub and his wife, Nancy Spero, lived in Paris, France. They thought Europe would be more open to their art, which often explored ideas of power. In Paris, Golub started making much larger paintings. He also began using acrylics and grinding the paint directly into the canvas. While visiting Italy in 1956, they were inspired by Etruscan and Roman art, which often showed stories of power and violence.

When Golub returned to New York in 1964, the Vietnam War was growing. He created two series of paintings called "Napalm" and "Vietnam." These works showed how vulnerable people were to modern weapons. Golub and Spero became active in "Artists and Writers Protest," a group against the war. In 1967, Golub organized "The Collage of Indignation," a huge artwork made by over 150 artists to show their strong feelings against the war.

That same year, Golub had a big moment in his career. Five of his paintings were shown at the Museum of Modern Art's "New Images of Man" exhibition in New York City. His art was displayed alongside famous artists like Willem de Kooning and Francis Bacon.

In the mid-1970s, Golub felt unsure about his art because people weren't very interested in it. He even cut up and destroyed many of his works. But in the late 1970s, he started painting again. He created more than a hundred portraits of important public figures, including political leaders and dictators. He was inspired to do this after seeing a resemblance between a young Gerald Ford and a soldier in one of his earlier paintings. Some of these portraits included Nelson Rockefeller, Ho Chi Minh, Fidel Castro, and Richard Nixon.

In the 1980s, Golub focused on themes of violence, unfairness, and oppression. He created series like "Mercenaries," "Interrogation," and "Riot." His painting Interrogation II (1981) shows his style from this time. He would paint, scrape, and repaint the canvas many times to create a strong, skin-like surface.

From the 1990s until he passed away, Golub's art changed. His forms became less clear, almost like illusions. He used styles from ancient carvings, old books, and even modern graffiti. As he got older, he also explored themes of loss and death. Many of his paintings from this time included text and symbols like dogs, lions, skulls, and skeletons.

Golub's art was shown in many exhibitions around the world. In 1996, he was asked to design stained glass windows for Temple Sholom in Chicago. These four windows, showing the life of Joseph, were the only stained glass works Golub ever created.

Later Works and Exhibitions

Leon Golub's later works from the 1990s continued to explore his earlier ideas, but in a more fragmented way. His larger, powerful paintings, which showed how power works, gained new attention when the U.S. became involved in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2003, Golub revisited an older painting from 1959 called Reclining Youth. This painting was inspired by ancient sculptures. He worked with Magnolia Editions to turn this painting into a huge Jacquard tapestry, which was his first and only textile artwork.

Art Shows and Collections

Many art galleries and museums have shown Leon Golub's work. In 2015, the Serpentine Gallery in London held a big show looking back at his entire career. This show then moved to the Hauser & Wirth gallery in New York. In 2022, the Hall Art Foundation in Vermont also presented a large exhibition of about 70 of Golub's works.

Where to See His Art

You can find Leon Golub's paintings in many public art collections around the world, including: