Pat Lipsky facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pat Lipsky
|
|
|---|---|
Lipsky in April 2009
|
|
| Born | September 21, 1941 New York City, U.S.
|
| Education | Hunter College (MFA, 1968) Cornell University (BFA, 1963) |
| Known for | Painting, printmaking, writing |
| Movement | Lyrical Abstraction, Color Field Painting |
| Awards | 2008, 2001 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant 2001 American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Hassam Speicher Betts Purchase Prize 1999 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant 1992 New York Foundation for the Arts |
Pat Lipsky is an American artist known for her colorful and expressive paintings. She is connected to art styles called Lyrical Abstraction and Color Field Painting.
Contents
Growing Up and Learning Art
Pat Lipsky grew up in New York City. She studied art at Cornell University, earning her first degree in fine arts in 1963. Later, she received a master's degree in painting from Hunter College in Manhattan. There, she learned from the famous painter and sculptor Tony Smith.
Her Art Career
Pat Lipsky's mother was a painter, and her father was an engineer. Her first art show in New York was at the André Emmerich Gallery. At this time, her art was part of the "Lyrical Abstraction" style.
Early Paintings (1960s-1970s)
Her 1969 painting Spiked Red shows her early style. It uses similar colors, bright waves, and bursts of color. A critic from The New York Times, Hilton Kramer, said her work looked both to the past and future of art. He noted her unique style and called her paintings "very handsome."
Lipsky was invited to a big art show called "Lyrical Abstraction" in 1970-1971. This show traveled across the country and ended at New York's Whitney Museum. Critics praised her paintings for being fresh, lively, and full of color. One critic said her shapes looked like flames and were "mouth-watering paintings."
Changing Styles (1970s-1990s)
By the late 1970s and 1980s, Lipsky started using bolder colors and geometric shapes. She began to explore new ways of painting that challenged her earlier lyrical style. By 2003, art critic Karen Wilkin called Lipsky an "unrepentant abstract painter." Wilkin felt Lipsky's art showed a lifetime of experience, including looking at other art.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Lipsky made her colors more defined and sometimes darker. A group of these works, called "The Black Paintings," were shown in Miami and New York City. Karen Wilkin found these dark paintings "dramatic" and "powerful." Another critic, Elisa Turner, said they moved away from "sleek" modern art. She felt they added emotion and mystery. The New Yorker magazine compared her work from this time to classic modern painters like Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee.
New Directions (2000s-Present)
In the 2000s, Lipsky started using more color again, often with a bold central image. Ken Johnson, writing for the New York Times, said these paintings reminded him of machines and music. He described them as having a "Bach-like musicality." Lipsky began to focus on single images shown in a series. Her recent shows feature repeating colors in a simple, repeated form.
The painter and critic Stephen Westfall called these her "most successful" paintings. He saw a link to artists like Ad Reinhardt and Philip Guston. Karen Wilkin reviewed Lipsky's 2006 show. She found a simplicity in the work that was freeing for the imagination.
In 2015, an exhibition called "Pat Lipsky: Twenty Years" showed her paintings from recent decades. A critic for the Boston Globe described the work as "breathing and organic."
In 2016, twenty of Lipsky's early paintings were found after being stored for almost 50 years. Eleven of them were shown in New York the next spring. Critic Carter Ratcliff wrote that Lipsky was a leader among painters of her generation. He said her paintings show her power to combine natural creativity with careful skill.
Art Collections
Pat Lipsky's paintings are displayed in twenty-five public art collections. These include famous museums like The Whitney Museum, The Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum, and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Her work is also at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, The Walker Art Center, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Harvard's Fogg Art Museum.
Artistic Influences
Some people connect Lipsky to the Post-Painterly Abstraction art movement. This group was often linked to the art critic Clement Greenberg, who was a long-time friend of the painter. However, others disagree with this view.
Lipsky has also talked about how early abstract expressionists like Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock influenced her. She also learned from later artists like Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis, as well as her teacher, Tony Smith.
Awards and Honors
- 2012 Department of State, Art in Embassies
- 2008 National Academy of Design Invitational Exhibition
- 2008 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
- 2003 Lincoln Center Print Editions Keyboard Variations
- 2001 American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Hassam Speicher Betts Purchase Prize
- 2000 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
- 1999 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant
- 1999 Jerome Foundation, Dark Love (the Black Paintings)
- 1998 New York Foundation for the Arts, Dark Love
- 1998 New York State Council on the Arts, Dark Love
- 1996 New York Foundation for the Arts, Painting in Ireland
- 1992 New York Foundation for the Arts, Painting in France
- 1972 New York State Council on the Arts
