ANTHE ZACHARIAS Shaken, Not Stirred: 1970s Color Abstraction
DAVID RICHARD GALLERY
ISBN: 978-1-7331016-7-7 Printed on the occasion of the exhibition Anthe Zacharias: Shaken, Not Stirred: 1970s Color Abstraction at David Richard Gallery October 30, 2019 - November 30, 2019.
Published by: David Richard Gallery, LLC, 211 East 121st Street, New York, NY 10035 www.DavidRichardGallery.com 212-882-1705 | 505-983-9555 DavidRichardGalleries1 DavidRichardGallery Gallery Staff: David Eichholtz and Richard Barger, Managers
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Artwork: © Anthe Zacharias Catalogue: © 2019 David Richard Gallery, LLC, New York, NY Essay: Eleanor, New York, NY Catalogue Design: David Eichholtz and Richard Barger, David Richard Gallery, LLC, New York, NY Images: © 2019 David Richard Gallery, LLC, New York, NY Images: Yao Zu Lu Front cover: Installation - Sonia Gechtoff, Moon Rising, 1989, Acrylic on canvas, 60.25” x 40.25” Title page: Installation - Sonia Gechtoff, Paestum, 1991, Acrylic on canvas, 60.5” x 54.5” Pages 6 - 7: Installation - Sonia Gechtoff, November Sun, 1989, Acrylic on canvas, 60.25” x 34.5”, September Sun, 1995, Acrylic on canvas,
60” x 60” x 1.5”, The Barrier II, 1994, Acrylic on canvas, 54.75” x 34.25”, and Celestial Red, 1994, Acrylic on canvas, 78” x 78”
Pages 32 - 33: Installation - Sonia Gechtoff, Troika, 1991-92, Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 54.5” x 54.5”, Riders of the Wave, 1992,
Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 74.5” x 54.5”, and Sentinel, 1991, Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 74.5” x 54.5”
Pages 58 - 59: Installation - Sonia Gechtoff, Moon Rising, 1989, Acrylic on canvas, 60.25” x 40.25” and Paestum, 1991, Acrylic on
canvas, 60.5” x 54.5”, Guardian of the Green, 1991-2002, Acrylic on canvas, 72.5 x 60.5”, and Troika, 1991-92, Acrylic and graphite
on canvas, 54.5” x 54.5”
Pages 66 - 67 - Installation - Sonia Gechtoff, The Barrier II, 1994, Acrylic on canvas, 54.75” x 34.25”, Celestial Red, 1994, Acrylic on
canvas, 78” x 78”, Moon Rising, 1989, Acrylic on canvas, 60.25” x 40.25” and Paestum, 1991, Acrylic on canvas, 60.5” x 54.5”
Back cover: Installation - Sonia Gechtoff, Troika, 1991-92, Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 54.5” x 54.5”, Riders of the Wave, 1992, Acrylic and
graphite on canvas, 74.5” x 54.5”, and Sentinel, 1991, Acrylic and graphite on canvas, 74.5” x 54.5”
DAVID RICHARD GALLERY
Anthe Zacharias Shaken, Not Stirred: 1970s Color Abstraction
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Sonia Gechtoff, A Force of Nature At first glance the paintings presented in, Forces of Nature on the Grand Stage: Paintings from 1988 to 1995, a solo exhibition of paintings by artist Sonia Gechtoff (1926 Philadelphia, PA - 2018, New York, NY) seem very different from the artist’s earlier works from the 1950s and 60s with their large passages of a single hue, more defined shapes and representational elements. However, closer examination and comparative analysis reveals far more similarities between the bodies of work throughout her oeuvre and nearly seven-decade career. And, what might seem like significant differences are really no more than an extension and grander manifestation of many of the hallmarks of and inspiration for Gechtoff’s paintings and graphite drawings from the 50s and 60s. The current exhibition looks critically at a selection of paintings from 1988 to 1995 that are organized roughly into two visual groups. First, a group that has architectural elements that function as framing devices, visual portals to direct the viewer’s attention, frequently with an arching structure like the proscenium of a theatre stage or columnar structures. The second group has more of an emphasis on forces of nature including waves, wind and fire as well as spherical structures that reference the sun, moon and celestial bodies. Gechtoff referred to these spheres in the 1960s as “Icons”, inspired by her Russian heritage and interest in religious iconography. An important realization is that these later career paintings clearly reference and extend Gechtoff’s painting style and approach from the 1950s and 60s with her strong, bold and physical paint stroke, regal colors and thick application of medium to not only apply pigment to the canvas, but to simultaneously build and sculpt the surface with texture and the artist’s hand fully present that melded with the pigment to create something physical and electrifying on the canvas. Also notable is the continued use of black in her later works, but with larger fields of saturated color than in her paintings from the 1950s, which was coincident with her move to New York in the late 50s. Another striking feature in her later works is the use of graphite on top of the painted surfaces to add definition, modeling of forms and bringing drawing together with painting. A small selection of paintings, drawings and lithographs from the 1950s and 60s will also be available to illustrate several of these formal and compositional similarities. Many of the features discussed and presented in the paintings from the 80s and 90s were always present in her paintings in the 1950s and 60s. Maybe she used an oil stick instead of graphite, oil medium instead of acrylic, or a palette knife instead of a pencil, but the technique, process, hallmarks and spirit remained the same. The real aesthetic difference is that in the 80s, the artist also made a conscious decision to shift her focus from only gestural mark making, formal concerns and nuancing her interests in nature and architecture by obfuscating them as a surface treatment and textural detail to finally acknowledging them and making that imagery the focus of the composition and bringing it to center stage. Gechtoff was fascinated with forces of nature and she herself was a force of nature on many levels, as an artist, wife, mother, teacher and colleague. She was inspired by her passion for art, but also by grand opera, theatre and the stage. Gechtoff worked with the opera at full volume, which transported her to a different place and unleashed a power that brought together bold pigment, slashing
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strokes, swirling texture and forces from beyond to create a raging storm or inferno on her canvas. About the Presentation: 4
Storms were always brewing underneath and on the surface of Gechtoff’s bold and powerful paintings in the 1950s and 60s. Forces of nature, specifically wind, fire and waves were always present, more as inspiration than literally, in her dramatic and forceful strokes to move thick pigment across the canvas with palette knives and brushes. While the resulting imagery was abstract and non-representational, the strokes and collective swirls on the surface, when viewed close up (and ignoring any color reference), emulated such natural forces. As demonstrated in this current presentation, the paintings from the mid-1980s through the mid-90s directly represent such natural forces, not only as inspiration, but often as the subject and focus of her paintings. The energy of those forces was always there in decades past, but finally became manifest as the imagery later in her career. Regal, bold and vibrant colors were always part of Gechtoff’s vocabulary even in the 1950s and 60s, but they were often in smaller amounts relative to the massive scale of the paintings and the immense amount of black that dominated the canvases. However, the most important part of the visual experience was the movement created by the strong strokes of the palette knife and brush that collectively brought energy and power to her paintings. Combined with the regal colors and massive scale, Gechtoff’s paintings commanded attention on the wall and in the room. Listening to grand opera and classical music, in particular Richard Wagner and the Ring Cycle, spirited Gechtoff as she painted, giving rise to the strong gestures, bold palettes and heroic scale of her paintings throughout her career. Her interest in architecture and the earth melded with her love of music and theatre and such elements began to emerge in her paintings in the 1980s and 90s, in particular columns and blocky structures that functioned as a framing device or curved and arched structures that echoed the proscenium of a stage to direct the viewer’s attention to Gechtoff’s classic and symmetrical approach of centrally locating her compositions. The columnar structures also worked their way onto center stage as devices for crashing waves, eddying winds and the swirling flames of fire to emphasize the power and force behind the natural elements that operate entirely out of human control. Her paintings brought fear and awe as well as respect for the forces of nature that shape and form the earth as well as human lives and spirits. June Wayne, a friend and colleague of Gechtoff’s who founded and ran the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles and printed several series of prints for Gechtoff, also had a passion for the forces of nature and realized them in her detailed paintings, prints and tapestries. Gechtoff introduced interesting spherical structures that she referred to as “Icons” in the late 1950s and continued into the 1960s. The artist painted several works with this imagery as well as numerous drawings, collaged works and a suite of six hand-colored lithographs from the Tamarind Lithography Workshop from 1963. While the term conveys religious references and imagery, her Icons were always filled with organic abstractions and no reference to anything in
particular. These Icons re-emerged in mid-1980s with either relatively solid colors in the center, thus making more of a direct reference to the sun, moon and celestial bodies, or filled with gestural strokes and organic abstractions. Either way, they were frequently combined with imagery of wind or waves and often included gardens, mountains and landscapes in a number of paintings. Incorporating drawing in her paintings and always on paper was a passion for Gechtoff. Drawing on the paintings literally brought the artist’s hand onto the canvas, by providing a tool to directly bring attention and structure to the paintings as a whole, but also to emphasize certain portions and elements. In the 80s and 90s, graphite replaced her oil stick to bring that same emphasis and attention to detail. The pencil drawings from the 1950s, just like her use of the palette knife on her paintings, involved more than wrist action, Gechtoff put her entire arm, body and soul into each gesture and motion, getting the longest, fullest strokes of graphite and paint possible. That power stroke and wielding the palette knife to mobilize a large amount of pigment became the artist’s signature early on in San Francisco and remained so throughout her career. Graphite is the tool and element that ties the ribbon around Gechtoff’s oeuvre, both on paper and on canvas. Also included in the exhibition and catalog as reference materials are drawings from the 1950s and 60s to illustrate the use of graphite and bold strokes that culminated in the surface swirls invoking the forces of nature. The Icon lithographic series from the Tamarind Lithography Workshop and small selection of paintings from the 1950s and 60s emphasize the continuum of bold strokes of graphite and paint and recurrence of the spherical Icon structure and natural forces into the 80s and 90s. David Eichholtz August, 2019 New York
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: Hiroshige Revisited, 1988
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-106), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 52” x 44.25”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: November Sun, 1989
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-107), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 42.25” x 42.25”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: September Sun, 1995
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-123), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 60” x 66.25”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-140), 1972-73 Acrylic on canvas 24.5” x 24.5”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-141), 1970 Acrylic on canvas 30.25” x 24.25”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: Moon Rising, 1989
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-192), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 60” x 50”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: Paestum, 1991
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-193), 1970 Acrylic on canvas 81” x 83” x 1.75”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: Guardian of the Green, 1991-2002
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-199), 1970 Acrylic on canvas 91.75” x 79.5”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: Troika, 1991-92
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The translation of “troika” from Russian means three or trio. Interesting that Gechtoff has also placed an icon at the base of the central structure. Could this be a reference to the holy trinity – the Father, Son and Holy Ghost? The triptych has been a common and frequently used format for religious paintings and alters over the centuries.
Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-214), 1972 Acrylic on canvas 114” x 84.5” x 2”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: Riders of the Wave, 1992
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-235) Oil on canvas 52.25” x 50”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: Sentinel, 1991
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The title, Sentinel, leads the viewer to imagine a human-like form from the vertical white and yellow structure. An abundance of graphite and modeling throughout this artwork provides depth and form to further suggest a figure standing guard.
Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-236), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 66” x 52.5”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: Memory of Cornwall, 1990
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-291) Acrylic on canvas 80” x 80.5” x 1.75”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: The Chase, 1959
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-298), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 54” x 50”
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Sonia Gechtoff Detail: The Queen, 1958
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-371), 1970 Acrylic on canvas 22” x 22.25”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-410), 1970 Acrylic on canvas 24.25” x 22.5”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-441), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 60” x 50”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-447), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 52.25” x 50.25”
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Sonia Gechtoff Embers I, 1965 Graphite on paper 12” x 9”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-548), 1968 Acrylic on canvas 104.5” x 80.25” x 2”
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Sonia Gechtoff Untitled, 1965 Graphite on paper 12” x 9”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-551) Acrylic on canvas 41.5” x 46” x 1.5”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-552) Acrylic on canvas 60” x 50” x 1.5”
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Sonia Gechtoff Untitled, 1963 Lithograph on paper 15” x 18” Ed 6/20 Tamarind
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-553) Acrylic on canvas 45.5” x 41.5” x 1.5”
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Sonia Gechtoff Untitled, 1963 Lithograph on paper 15” x 18” Ed 6/20 Tamarind
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-62), 1971 Acrylic on canvas 30” x 24.25”
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Sonia Gechtoff Untitled, 1963 Lithograph on paper 15” x 18” Ed 6/20 Tamarind
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-87), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 60” x 50”
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Sonia Gechtoff Untitled, 1963 Lithograph on paper 15” x 18” Ed 6/20 Tamarind
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-92), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 72” x 50”
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Anthe Zacharias Untitled (AZ-96), 1970s Acrylic on canvas 50” x 50”
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Anthe Zacharias was born in Albania. Her parents immigrated to the United States and she grew up in New York on the west side of Manhattan in Hell’s Kitchen. She attended Queen’s College from 1952 to 1956 where she studied under art historian Robert Goldwater as well as John Ferren and Barse Miller. She then went to the University of California, Berkeley, where she met Mark di Suvero and studied with George McNeil and Erle Loran, receiving her M.F.A in 1957. Returning to New York, Zacharias exhibited at the legendary March Gallery in the early 1960s along side di Suvero and received recognition and mention form Dore Ashton. Between 1960 to 1968, she lived and painted in an old sea captain’s residence at Coentis Slip near South Ferry in the same area as some of the most renowned figures in the art scene of that time: Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Barnett Newman, Ellsworth Kelly, Mark di Suvero, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist and Robert Indiana. In the mid-60s, Zacharias exhibited at the Great Jones Gallery along with Louise Bourgeois and in the early 1970s, at Green Mountain Gallery in Soho in Lower Manhattan. In the mid1970s, Zacharias became somewhat reclusive and avoided exhibiting in galleries. However, she continued to paint everyday in her studio and evolve her own visual language and experimental methods of application on new and novel supports. Also, from the 1980s through 2000, she was closely associated with Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Queens and working with local children groups and teaching. She worked on two large commissions for the Park, including a brightly colored 35-foot mural. In 2006, Zacharias contributed a work to the “Peace Tower” shown at the Whitney biennial of that same year. She continues to paint, albeit on a much smaller scale. EXHIBITIONS 2019 Shaken, Not Stirred: 1970s Color Abstraction, David Richard Gallery, October November 2019, New York, NY. Hidden Figures: Abstract Expressionist Women Painters in New York and California, 1950s and 1960s Sonia Gechtoff, Nina Tryggvadottir, Beate Wheeler and Anthe Zacharias; David Richard Gallery, January - February 2019, New York, NY. Anthe Zacharias: Paintings from the 1960s Selection of Paintings; David Richard Gallery, January - February 2019, New York, NY. 2018 Four Women: Abstract Expressionist Painters in New York and California, On-line presentation; David Richard Gallery, December 2018 January 2019, New York, NY. 2014 Selection of Paintings. Riverton, NJ 2006 Whitney Biennial – painting contributed to Mark di Suvero’s recreation of his “Peace Tower” (with Rirkrit Tiravanijas), New York, NY. 1992 Socrates Sculpture Park, Waterfront, September 1986 - April 1988, New York, NY. Socrates Sculpture Park; 35 foot mural; 1992-1993, New York, NY. 1987 City Gallery Dept. of Cultural Affairs; Painting at Socrates; October November 1987, New York, NY. 1974 Columbia University, Lobby of School of International Affairs, October 1974, New York, NY. One Woman Show, Green Mountain Gallery, September - October 1974. 1972 One Woman Show, 135 Green Street Gallery, February 1972, New York, NY. Baruch College, 23rd Street Lobby; April - June 1972, New York, NY. Soho Invitational McGovern Benefit, October 1972, New York, NY. 1971 One Woman Show, Rhode Island College, May 1971, Providence, RI. 1970 Group Show, O.K. Harris Gallery, Soho, June 1970, New York, NY. 1966 Great Jones Gallery One Woman Show; September-October 1966, New York, NY. 1965 Group Shows, Great Jones Gallery, September 1965, New York, NY. 1966 Group Shows, Great Jones Gallery, January 1966, New York, NY. 1960 New York Group Show Benefit for Spanish refugees; May 1960.
1959 Group Show with Mark di Suvero, March Gallery, Tenth Street, January 1959, New York, NY.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Philadelphia Inquirer; Sep. 21, 2014 “Artist Back in Spotlight After 40 Years” by Kevin Riordan Art Forum; March 2006; review of Peace Tower by Irving Petlin. Arts Magazine; November 1974; review by Ellen Lubell. Art News; March 1972; review by Jim Bishop. New York Times; February 12, 1972; review by David Shirey. Arts Magazine; October 1966; review by Cindy Nemser. Art News; October 1966; review by Natalie Edgar. New York Times; January 9, 1959, “Tenth Street Stroll” by Dore Ashton.
DAVID RICHARD GALLERY