R B Kitaj (1932 – 2007)
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A LIFE 1975 R B Kitaj (1932 – 2007) P4428 © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj
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MOSES CONTRA FREUD 2005 R B Kitaj (1932 – 2007) P8199 © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj
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VERNISSAGE-COCKTAIL 1967 R B Kitaj (1932 – 2007) P4429 © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj
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MELANCHOLY AFTER DURER 1989 R B Kitaj (1932 – 2007) P5803 © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj
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ACHESON GO HOME 1963/64 R B Kitaj (1932 – 2007) P1723 © The Estate of R.B. Kitaj
Kitaj was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Kitaj’s Jewish heritage and early migratory experiences of life were to have a significant bearing on his practice as an artist. He first studied art at the Cooper Union, New York, and after service with the US Army, took advantage of provisions in the GI Bill to settle in England to continue his art education. As a mature student at the Royal College of Art in London, his broad cultural interests in history, politics, literature and poetry were a significant influence on his fellow students, especially David Hockney.
Kitaj’s preference for figuration provided a salutary alternative to the then prevailing influence of American abstraction. His ability to draw on a wide variety of historical and contemporary subjects and his adroit mix of drawing and painting provided a model for a new form of picture-making. In 1976 Kitaj conceived the influential exhibition The Human Clay, which sought to reinstate the neglected values of figuration as a modern legacy; and he invented the term ‘A School of London’ to classify a group of painters, including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, among others, who were all concerned with figurative paintings as distinct from the fashionable international modernisms of the late 20th Century. His work has shown increasing preoccupations with his own Jewish origins and the contemporary role of Jewish people. He published A Diaporist Manifesto, a declaration of his views, in 1988.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/oct/23/guardianobituaries.usa
Further reading:
The Human Clay: An Exhibition Selected by R B Kitaj, Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 1976
R B Kitaj: A retrospective, Tate Gallery, London, 1994
Jane Kinsman, The Prints of R B Kitaj, Scolar Press, Aldershot, 1994
Glossary
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Abstraction
To abstract means to remove, and in the art sense it means that artist has removed or withheld references to an object, landscape or figure to produce a simplified or schematic work. This method of creating art has led to many critical theories; some theorists considered this the purest form of art: art for art’s sake. Unconcerned as it is with materiality, abstraction is often considered as representing the spiritual.
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Contemporary
Existing or coming into being at the same period; of today or of the present. The term that designates art being made today.
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Drawing
The depiction of shapes and forms on a flat surface chiefly by means of lines although colour and shading may also be included. Materials most commonly used are pencil, ink, crayon, charcoal, chalk and pastel, although other materials, including paint, can be used in combination.
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Painting
Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.
See in
Portfolio
- Oman, Qaboos University Cultural Centre
- Azerbaijan, Institution of Fine Arts
- Georgia, Academy Of Arts
- Ukraine, Centre for Urban History
- Ukraine, Kyiv, Bottega Gallery
- Armenia, Yerevan, National Gallery
- Armenia, Style Gallery
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/thresholds-2010">THRESHOLDS- Macedonia, Skopje, Museum Of Contemporary Art
- Malta, Valletta, St James Cavalier Centre For Creativity
- UK, London, Whitechapel Art Gallery
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/as-is-a-when-a-selection-2009">AS IS A WHEN (A SELECTION)- UK, Leeds, College Of Art And Design
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/as-is-when-a-selection-2009">AS IS WHEN (A SELECTION)- UK, Leeds, College Of Art And Design
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/summer-exhibition-2008">SUMMER EXHIBITION- UK, London, Royal Academy Of Arts
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/a-guest-of-honour-from-francis-bacon-to-peter-doig-2008">A GUEST OF HONOUR: FROM FRANCIS BACON TO PETER DOIG- Austria, Salzburg, Museum Der Moderne
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/as-is-when-a-boom-in-british-printmaking-1961-1972-2003">AS IS WHEN A BOOM IN BRITISH PRINTMAKING 1961-1972- Ireland, Letterkenny, Glebe House and Gallery
- China, Chongqing, Tank Loft
- Taiwan, Taipei, Taipei Fine Arts Museum
- Poland, Krakow, Manggha Centre
- Lithuania, Kaunas, Modern Art Museum
- Lithuania, Siauliai, Dailes Galerija
- Portugal, Porto, Culturgest
- Italy, Rome, Istituzione Nazionale Per La Grafica
- Romania, Cluj, Biblioteca Judeteana Octavian Goga
- Romania, Timisoara, Faculty Of Fine Art
- Romania, Iasi, Palace Of Culture
- Romania, Bucharest, National Museum Of Art
- Romania, Constanta, Constanta Art Museum
- Kazakhstan, Almaty, Central Exhibition Hall
- Armenia, Yerevan, Fine Arts Academy
- Estonia, Tallinn, Museum Of Contemporary Art
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/as-is-when-lubeck-only-2003">AS IS WHEN (LUBECK ONLY)- Germany, Lubeck, St Petri Kirche
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/a-cross-section-through-contemporary-british-art-2001">A CROSS SECTION THROUGH CONTEMPORARY BRITISH ART- Turkey, Ankara, Ankara Art Fair
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/die-farben-schwarz-1999">DIE FARBEN SCHWARZ- Austria, Graz, Landesmuseum Joanneum
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/lecole-de-londres-de-bacon-a-bevan-1998">L'ECOLE DE LONDRES DE BACON A BEVAN- France, Paris, Musee Malliol
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/brandenberg-festival-1997">BRANDENBERG FESTIVAL- Germany, Drewen, Kunstforum
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/out-of-print-1994">OUT OF PRINT- Germany, Hildesheim, Roemer- Und Pelizaeue Museum
- Poland, Bytom, Museum Gornoslaskie
- Poland, Lodz, Museum Sztuki
- Poland, Warsaw, National Museum
- USA, Mary Washington College Galleries
- USA, Springfield Museum Of Art
- USA, New Jersey, Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers State Univeristy Of New Jersey
- USA, Provo, Museum Of Art Brigham Young University
- Spain, La Coruna, Fondacion Barrie De La Maza
- Spain, Seville, Museo De Bellas Artes
- Spain, Bilbao, Museo De Bellas Artes De Bilbao
- Cyprus, Nicosia, Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre
- Egypt, Cairo, British Council Office - Cairo
- Egypt, Alexandria, British Council Office - Alexandria
- Italy, Naples, Naples
- Italy, Cagliari, Assozione Culturale Italia Inghliterra
- Belgium, Antwerp, Luchtbal Art Centre
- France, Gravelines, Musee Du Dessin Et D'estample Originale
- Touring Exhibition, Touring Exhibition
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/for-a-wider-world-1990">FOR A WIDER WORLD- Argentina, Buenos Aires, Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes
- Bulgaria, Sofia, SS Cyril and Methodius International Foundation
- Luxembourg, Musee National D'histoire Et D'art
- USSR, Kyiv, Ukrainian Museum of Fine Arts
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http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/exhibition/figuration-and-fantasy-1974">FIGURATION AND FANTASY- Greece, British Council Office - Cyprus
- Germany, West Germany
- Netherlands, Netherlands
- France, France