The Journeys of John Laub: Fire Island and Beyond

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The Journeys of John Laub

Fire Island and Beyond

WoodmereArtMuseum


Woodmere extends sincere thanks and appreciation to an anonymous donor, Patricia Born, Joan Myerson-Shrager, and Frank Stark for their generous support of this catalogue and exhibition.


The Journeys of John Laub Fire Island and Beyond

CONTENTS

Foreword 2 A Conversation with Lawrence DiCarlo 4 A Conversation with Bruce Kingsley 8 Selected Chronology 18 Works in the Exhibition 24

April 8–August 13, 2017

WoodmereArtMuseum


FOREWORD

Made on a monumental scale that is at once

Woodmere has been honored to show Laub’s

impressive and immersive, John Laub’s paintings

work in several recent exhibitions. The vision of

function like a diary of his travels. He depicted

the Museum’s founder, Charles Knox Smith, was to

grand vistas and dramatic expanses, but was

offer an art experience in the context of nature, so

equally drawn to the beauty of an ordinary clearing

it is no surprise that Laub’s work has fit so easily

in the woods or a busy tourist destination. Laub

into our efforts to interpret that vision in new ways.

almost always worked on site—with large sheets

Whenever his paintings are on view, visitors express

of primed, but unstretched, canvas or linen and

their delight, sometimes uttering unexpected words

oil paint—with the intent that the experience of

of pleasure aloud in the galleries. For all these

nature’s variations of hot and cold, movement and

reasons, it seemed right to organize an exhibition

tranquility would be channeled into his pictures.

that offers an overview of the artist’s achievements.

Later, back in the studio, he would stretch the canvases, studying them at length and adding finishing touches and refinements.

Woodmere thanks the artist’s family for gifts of Laub’s work and for the guidance that made this exhibition possible. We are grateful for the generous

Born and trained in Philadelphia, Laub (1947–2005)

financial support of an anonymous donor, Patricia

enjoyed a successful career, showing with the

Born, Joan Myerson-Shrager, and Frank Stark.

Fischbach Gallery in New York. A gay man who

Thank you all.

came of age and lived in New York in the 1980s, his life intersected with the devastation of the AIDS

WILLIAM R. VALERIO, PHD

crisis. But Laub’s work is a heroic testament to the

The Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and Chief

power of beauty, as if his antidote to tragedy was

Executive Officer

to embrace the extraordinary visual pleasures of the natural world.

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Table Tops, 1991, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

THE JOURNEYS OF JOHN LAUB: FIRE ISLAND AND BEYOND

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A CONVERSATION WITH LAWRENCE DICARLO

On March 22, 2017, William Valerio, Woodmere’s Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and CEO, Rachel McCay, Woodmere’s Assistant Curator, and Lawrence DiCarlo, Director of Fischbach Gallery (formerly of New York, now in Miami, Florida), discussed the work of John Laub. WILLIAM VALERIO: Larry, it would be great to

VALERIO: I agree. When I’m standing in front of

start by asking you how you met John Laub? How

one of his paintings, I feel as if I’m experiencing

did you become acquainted with his work?

something deeply felt by the artist. It could be a

LAWRENCE DICARLO: I had a business partner,

Aladar Marberger, who was originally from Elkins Park. He and John actually had a relationship. They were going out.

range of emotions. Some of his winter scenes can be pretty chilly. His beach scenes can be bright and sunny. All of it is about about the magical beauty of a captured moment. There’s a depth to the beauty, it’s not superficial. It may come from the observed

VALERIO: They were partners?

details that he records or…

DICARLO: Yes. That’s how I met John, through

DICARLO: Or the fact that he was a plein air

my business partner. This was not the time when

painter. He spent hours out there, in the hot sun and

Fischbach Gallery represented John’s work. That

in the freezing winter, and the experience translates.

happened much later. He and John were no longer

That’s what I mean. They were very heartfelt. He

together and Aladar and I weren’t in business

was willing to put himself out there.

together either when I started to show John’s work at the Gallery. We had five solo exhibitions of John’s work and he was included in two group exhibitions when the Gallery was located in Chelsea, New York. The thing that always struck me about John was

VALERIO: Did he paint huge canvases outside?

Some of his paintings are enormous. DICARLO: I think he would take a large canvas

outside.

his level of sincerity about his own work and the

RACHEL MCCAY: Do you think that he enjoyed

dedication that he put into his painting. He put in

painting outdoors around other people because he

his time. He was so sincere about it that he certainly

was so social?

deserved the opportunity to have an exhibition in a really good gallery in New York. I looked at his work for many years and decided it needed to be seen.

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Fire Island Pines Deck on the Bay, 1987, by John Laub (Collection of Frank Stark)

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DICARLO: He was a very social person, but when

DICARLO: Well, think of Van Gogh’s painting of his

he was painting, I don’t think he was holding social

bedroom. There’s a huge backstory about Van Gogh

court. He would be into his work and people would

and his biography related to the painting. Looking

leave him alone.

at it, we know that every element in the room is

To return to the gallery, in the sixties Fischbach was representing and showing experimental and

important. There’s intensity. I feel that with John’s paintings.

avant-garde artists like Eve Hesse. Only later

VALERIO: This is an interesting comparison. One of

in the seventies did the gallery’s focus become

the paintings that we’ll have in the exhibition is of

contemporary American representational painting.

a beach house that was once owned by a friend of

The sad truth is, today, there is nobody doing that.

John’s, Frank Stark. It depicts a great deck with an

VALERIO: Interesting. There is a great deal of

painterly representation in Philadelphia. I see John fitting in the crossroads of two very strong paths. One of them has to do with a realist approach to nature. Part of what makes his garden pictures so compelling is the translation of observation into painterly form. He’s looking at specific shapes and details that bring the narrative scene to life. They

ocean-side pool and big beach ball floating in the cool, crisp water. Beautiful potted plants occupy the deck. It is like Van Gogh’s bedroom in that it’s a place that is full of meaning. Somehow by being empty of people, but being full of the objects that people touch, the place takes on a pregnancy of meaning because of the importance to the people who aren’t there.

coincide with some kind of specificity of perception

DICARLO: Yes. I like that description. Virgil

that’s shared. The second path is related to the

Thomson, the American composer, once said, “The

brand of modernism that took hold in Philadelphia

problem with exhibition openings is that paintings

thanks to Arthur B. Carles: a modernism in

get in the way of seeing the people.” So perhaps the

Philadelphia of high-key color intensity. This sense

problem with paintings with people in them is that

of color also comes to us in Philadelphia through

people get in the way of just seeing what’s there.

the collection of the Barnes Foundation and the

When people are in paintings they are the subject;

magnificent Matisse paintings there. John surely

they get in the way of seeing the paint.

knew and loved those paintings.

VALERIO: Right. With John, what you see is about

DICARLO: I think that’s very well put. We can

the place, and it becomes about this specific place:

see in his work that John had no fear of color. His

Fire Island, which contained gay life at a time when

paintings are bold and bright and joyful. He also

it wasn’t welcome in an open way in most other

worshipped Matisse!

places. John’s work is a portrait of that world.

VALERIO: Again, can we say there is a deep beauty

in John’s work, distinct from a superficial beauty? There’s a beauty that comes with truth, right?

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Spring Thaw, 1997, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

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A CONVERSATION WITH BRUCE KINGSLEY

On March 30, 2017, a discussion of John Laub’s paintings took place between William Valerio, Woodmere’s Patricia Van Burgh Director and CEO, Rachel McCay, Woodmere’s Assistant Curator, and Bruce Kingsley, the late artist’s partner. WILLIAM VALERIO: Bruce, thank you for joining

Rachel and me in this conversation. Somehow, it is always interesting to start thinking about an artist and his or her vision by looking at a self-portrait. BRUCE KINGSLEY: The self-portrait in the

exhibition, from Woodmere’s collection, was one of seven he completed in his early thirties. As far as I know, this is the only self-portrait he made as a folding panel.

VALERIO: Where does the self-portrait take place? KINGSLEY: He’s on the deck of one of the beach

houses he rented in Fire Island Pines. He did that every year starting around the late seventies. VALERIO: I love the three distinct elements. The

left-most panel is simply the vertical slats of the deck. They come forward and flatten the space and act as an abstract element. At the same time because it is connected to the next part of the

VALERIO: He stares out at the viewer in a

screen it leads your eye back to the seated figure

psychologically penetrating way.

and his outstretched leg. The leg extends out as if

KINGSLEY: I think he’s challenging the viewer, in

a way. RACHEL MCCAY: At the same time, because he

is almost nude sitting there in his underwear, he is vulnerable.

beyond the right edge of the canvas. It’s an active and engaging portrait. It extends psychologically as well. KINGSLEY: You brought up the abstract quality

of the fence and at this time John was studying Matisse. With these screen panel paintings John

VALERIO: It’s not just that he’s in his underwear,

realized that you could be as abstract as you want.

but his cut-off dungaree shorts are sitting by his

For example, if you just look only at the panel at the

upraised leg. To me, there’s a sexual provocation in

left with the fence, you’d think it was an abstract

the picture.

painting. He was exploring the intersection of both abstraction and representation in a two and three

KINGSLEY: He is making some sort of statement

dimensional way with the screen paintings he made.

about his body. John wasn’t too sure about his sexuality. I don’t mean in terms of sexual orientation,

MCCAY: The self-portrait is the earliest work in the

I mean him as a sexual person. I think this series of

exhibition. Visitors to the show might wonder why

portraits have a lot to do with resolving that.

there aren’t any paintings included in the show that were completed before he’s 32 years old. Is most

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Self-Portrait, Frontal View, 1979, by John Laub (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014)

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of the work he completed before 1979 in private collections? KINGSLEY: That’s a very dramatic story, actually.

He had a loft that he rented in Philly in the midseventies and it was a studio and the landlord wanted him out. When he wasn’t home one day, the landlord came in and threw all of his paintings away. When John came back things were gone, and he never saw them again. VALERIO: That’s tragic. Why don’t we move on to

some more pictures? There is a luscious view of Central Park. KINGSLEY: John moved permanently to New

York in 1984, but surprisingly, he did few paintings of New York City. There are also no people in the Central Park painting, and you know there would have been people there. He chose to leave them

Good Hope Plantation, 1994, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

out because the people weren’t what mattered to him about that place. If you look at some of his paintings with figures and animals like Dickie Dog at the Beach, what do you see? The beach is a secondary character, almost. John often wanted the place to be the primary focus and the primary character. VALERIO: Some of these paintings are painted very

that has become a hotel. It’s right in the center of Jamaica on a mountain top. Lorraine, John’s mother, also did a wonderful collage of a Jamaican woman arranging flowers on the porch of the hotel. MCCAY: John’s mom is also an artist. What was

their relationship like as artists?

far from his home in New York. I’m thinking of his

KINGSLEY: John inspired her, and she inspired

remarkable painting, Grand Canyon. I assume he

him. They were also somewhat competitive in a

made it back home in New York.

healthy way. When I was with John they got along

KINGSLEY: No, no, no. He hardly ever painted in the

studio. He only touched things up or adjusted the color slightly. He was almost exclusively a plein air painter. There are two paintings in your exhibition that were done in the studio and not on site: Good Hope Plantation and Villefranche. Good Hope Plantation is an old, wonderful plantation house

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fabulously. To paint Good Hope Plantation, John worked from photographs but for Villefranche he did a study of the scene when we were there. I found the location of Villefranche. Often while he was painting at one location, I would be out scouting for other locations.


Villefranche, 1995, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

VALERIO: Villefranche depicts a utopian harmony

VALERIO: Returning to his painting Grand Canyon,

of modern life. The land mass almost becomes like a

which was completed on site. How did he travel

gigantic finger. The green element on the left seems

with a sixty-four inch canvas?

to recoil away from it.

KINGSLEY: He rolled them up. He worked on

KINGSLEY: [Laughs] The green tree at the left was

unstretched linen so that he could roll them up and

added to the painting. It wasn’t part of the original

safely transport them when they were dry. He was

view and sketch. This was also a rare occurrence for

constantly picking up paintings and stretching them

John to alter what the location actually looked like.

out. He stored a lot of them rolled up.

Without the tree at the left you couldn’t tell whether this was a big area or a tiny area, or whether it was a fantasy. MCCAY: Yes, the tree establishes the space of the

painting. It creates a foreground and a point of view for John. KINGSLEY: Exactly. This is a very unusual painting

VALERIO: Well, it’s a beauty. Who was Judy? John

obviously painted her house in Judy’s House, 1991. KINGSLEY: She was a friend of John’s sister and

brother-in-law, and when John’s partner, Scott, died of AIDS he was pretty depressed. At one point, Judy invited John to stay with her and paint her house. This is one of the paintings he did there.

in terms of John’s working method.

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VALERIO: It’s, it’s interesting to learn that this was

painted at a difficult time in John’s life. Let’s please talk about Table Tops.

Big Boat in Harbor, 1992, by John Laub (Collection of Bruce Kingsley)

KINGSLEY: Table Tops! John made that painting

before I met him in 1993, but he always considered it one of his best compositions. It was hung on the wall of the house we rented in Fire Island. MCCAY: People coming to the show will

make connections between John’s work and Impressionism, and places of leisure in the modern city and in modern life are among the major subjects of the Impressionist artists. However, John shows the places of leisure without the people. KINGSLEY: Exactly. This painting is like Renoir’s

Luncheon of the Boating Party but without the people. He told me that he painted it in the morning

thinking about Impressionism is Big Boat in Harbor.

before the restaurant opened for lunch. This was

It reminds me of Claude Monet’s The Studio Boat.

the restaurant at the motel on Fire Island known as the Blue Whale. VALERIO: It is very interesting to think about John’s

work and Impressionism because it forces us to the question: what do we mean when we use the term impressionism with a lower-case “i.” Not the movement of French Impressionism or Pennsylvania Impressionism, but a kind of representational painting that’s naturalistic in its shaping of forms in space with color. As viewers, we accept that what John has presented here as being observed and in

KINGSLEY: Right! VALERIO: What is really wonderful about John’s

art is that you can feel his love for modern art and his love of paint. I don’t mean to pigeon-hole him as a follower of impressionism either. What makes his silk screens so successful, for example, are the sometimes blocky compositions, patterns overlapping, and the willful flattening of shapes. I’d also like to talk about Secret Spot. Was this a place that John liked?

that sense “real” or “natural.” This is a restaurant

KINGSLEY: I think it’s sort of a cruising spot where

with its umbrellas open and its seats all prepared. I

men could meet other men and have a relationship

trust it’s what John saw. That’s distinct from what

or a tryst.

we get with Post-Impressionism or a modernist approach, where you have a strong sense that the composition is designed in a synthetic way. The other picture by John that comes to mind in

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VALERIO: So it wasn’t so secret!


Inside Sumner’s Garden, 1996, by John Laub (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014)

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KINGSLEY: [Laughs] No it wasn’t. I can remember

KINGSLEY: Sumner Freeman was an eye, ear, nose,

around 1990, before John and I were together, I

and throat doctor, and he had a property in Mid

walked through that area, which was between two

Way Walk, which is in the middle of Fire Island. Mid

neighborhoods on Fire Island called Cherry Grove

Way Walk is about two blocks long, and it’s the

and Fire Island Pines. I was going to get lunch with

garden district of the Island. Most people let their

two friends, and then we walked back through the

gardens grow more naturally, but Sumner met a

woods and I saw John painting there. I had no idea

man named Roy Yaeger who also loved to garden.

who he was. I didn’t meet him for another three

The two of them traveled around the world looking

years, but I definitely remember seeing him painting

at gardens and they must have spent hours every

there.

day from May to October in the garden on Fire

VALERIO: Bruce, I’m realizing and learning about

Island.

how much of John’s body of work is the chronicle of

VALERIO: I will tell you that every time we have it

his life in very specific ways. These are not random

on view here at Woodmere, people just “Oooo” and

garden spots, or places that are devoid of meaning.

“Aaaah” over it, for good reasons.

They all had meaning.

KINGSLEY: Vertical Path, Tahiti Garden, and

KINGSLEY: That’s true. Rather than going to places

Winding Garden Path are all of Sumner’s garden.

just to paint, I think he found places where he went.

John gave it the nickname Tahiti.

MCCAY: I wanted to ask you, Bruce, about John’s

VALERIO: With the exotic, lush plants you can

commissions. Commissions were an important part

imagine this is John’s Tahiti. There are many other

of his career.

depictions of Fire Island and John’s relationships

KINGSLEY: Yes. It started with Frank Stark

who was the first to commission John. Knowing that someone was purchasing his work and commissioning him to paint a location that was meaningful to them gave John an increased sense of confidence. He felt that they added stature to his being a painter. VALERIO: Can we talk about Sumner’s Garden and

the series of paintings John did of this amazing garden? Who was Sumner?

and life on the Island. We will include three works from Woodmere’s collection of the Morning Party. My understanding is that the Morning Party was a fundraiser for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis at someone’s home, but it became so big it had to move to the beach. KINGSLEY: Yes, people came and erected these

gigantic tents and the big blue man was a party mascot of sorts. It was quite a spectacle. John was an employee at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and he worked the hotline. He was a supervisor of the hotline from around ‘91 to ’96. He also volunteered his services as a graphic designer, making the posters for the party.

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Tenth Annual Morning Party, 1991, by John Laub (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014)

VALERIO: 1996 is the year of The Path from the

KINGSLEY: Oh, Buster was my dog when I met

Carrington House.

John. This was on Teal Walk, between Bay Walk

KINGSLEY: That was the house that for a long

time was the Western-most property on the Island. It was purchased and enlarged in the 1920s by Frank Carrington, director of the Theater Guild, a

and Fire Island Boulevard. We were on our way to something and John suddenly decided he wanted to paint me…us!. We just stopped and posed in our tracks!

theatrical society founded in New York City. Truman

VALERIO: So you didn’t get very far? The liability of

Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s at the house

being married to an artist.

when he spent the summer there in 1955. Other guests included Katharine Hepburn, Tennessee

KINGSLEY: Yes.

Williams, Eugene O’Neill, and Francesco Scavullo.

VALERIO: We will also be including three still lifes in

There was an endless number of famous people

the exhibition and they are all ravishingly beautiful.

who went to that house and were guests there. It’s

It seems to me a shame that he didn’t paint more

a very famous house and part of Fire Island culture.

of them.

John loved it for its history. He painted it over and over again.

KINGSLEY: He liked them, but his real love was

nature. I tried to push him into it, by getting flowers VALERIO: There is a painting of you Bruce. It’s

and stuff, but he didn’t like to work at home all that

called Bruce and Buster.

much. He didn’t like to work out of his studio. He wanted to be outside.

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One of the still lifes with an interesting story is

to tell them about the drug. “100 Million in Sales”

Flowers, “100 Million in Sales” Party at Serono.

Party at Serono was painted after the conference in

In the early 1990s, the pharmaceutical company

Boston, where we were invited to celebrate Serono’s

Serono had developed a fertility drug for women

$100 million in sales of the drug.

that was ineffective in promoting pregnancy and had the side effect of promoting rapid weight gain. Serono reformulated the drug so it could be used to combat wasting syndrome, a complication of AIDS. Still, in July 1996, when the XI World AIDS Conference took place in Vancouver, Serono was waiting for FDA approval for their drug. They were

VALERIO: Wow. That is an incredible story. Well

we’ve talked about a number of paintings that will be in the exhibition and this has been a wonderful conversation. Thank you, Bruce, for all that you have shared with us. KINGSLEY: My pleasure.

not permitted to print any literature about the drug, but they could talk about it. As a strategy to attract attention to their booth at the conference, Serono hired John to set up his easel and paint. Conference attendees stopped to watch him work, and this gave company representatives an opportunity

Path from the Carrington House, 1996, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

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Flowers, “100 Million in Sales” Party at Serono, 1997, by John Laub (Collection of Lorraine and Ben Alexander)

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CHRONOLOGY

1947

1980

Born on December 30 to Richard and Lorraine Laub

Solo exhibition: John Laub: Painterly Screens

in Philadelphia.

(1979–80), AJ Wood Galleries, Philadelphia, March 15–April 12.

1968 Enrolls at the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of Arts); graduates in 1971 with a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design.

1972 Attends the summer session at the San Francisco Art Institute, studying filmmaking.

1974 Attends the spring semester at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Fine Arts (now the School of Design), studying architecture. Attends the fall semester at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, studying printmaking.

1977 Group exhibition: Painterly Realism in America, AJ Wood Galleries, Philadelphia, March 25–April 18.

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Laub at his exhibition John Laub: Painterly Screens, Photographer unknown. Photograph courtesy of Bruce Kingsley


1982 Solo exhibition: John Laub: Windowscapes, Gross McCleaf, Philadelphia, June 16–July 9.

1984 Curates The Raw Edge: From Penn to Punk with Judith Lieb at the Cheltenham Art Center, including work by Keith Haring, Cindy Sherman, and others, October 8–November 5, 1982.

Solo exhibition: John Laub: Recent Work, Exhibit of Gross McCleaf Gallery at Hahnemann University Gallery, July 27–September 5. Moves to New York, where he remains for the rest

1983

of his life.

Group exhibition: July Show, Stonington Art Gallery, Stonington, Connecticut, opens June 26.

Central Park, 1985, by John Laub (Collection of Roselle and Brian Kaltner)

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Dickie Dog at the Beach, 1987, by John Laub (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014)

1986 Solo exhibition: New Paintings by John F. Laub, Islanders’ Gallery, New York, April 23–May 30.

1987 Group exhibition: Fire Island Pines Arts Project 1st Fine Art Exhibition

1988 Serves on the board of directors of the Fire Island Pines Arts Project (FIPAP) and co-chairs the group’s exhibition The Art Show, which opens August 26; Laub continues to be involved in FIPAP activities for a number of years.

1989 Begins working for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York; Laub serves as a supervisor of the organization’s AIDS hotline for five years. 20

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1990

1994

Attends the fall semester at the School of Visual

Solo exhibition at the home of Harold and

Arts, New York.

Suzanne Baer on Fire Island.

1991

1995-2005

Solo exhibition: John Laub: Beachscapes, Helio

Teaches summer classes in his home in Fire

Galleries, New York, January 29–February 16.

Island Pines.

“The ‘Painterly Realism’ of John Laub” by Sean Scuion is published in Art Speak, vol. 13, no. 16.

1996 Solo exhibitions: John Laub: Recent Paintings, Fischbach Gallery, New York, March 7–April 6; Recent Paintings, Esther M. Klein Art Gallery, University City Science Center, Philadelphia, September 11–October 11. “John Laub” by John Ashbery published in Bomb, vol. 56, summer.

Laub on the beach at Fire Island Pines, c. 1988-89, Photographer unknown. Photograph courtesy of Bruce Kingsley

1992 Designs a poster for a benefit to increase awareness of Lyme disease.

Secret Spot, 1995, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub) THE JOURNEYS OF JOHN LAUB: FIRE ISLAND AND BEYOND

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Winding Garden Path, 1998, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

1997 Painting reproduced in New American Paintings, Northeast #10, June/July 1997. Teaches summer classes in his home in Fire Island Pines.

1998 Solo exhibition: John Laub: Recent Paintings, Fischbach Gallery, New York, September 10– October 10.

2000 “Living Out Laub” by Elizabeth Fovst is published in American Artist, April.

2002 Group exhibition: H2O, O2: Paintings of Water, Fischbach Gallery, New York, March 21–April 20.

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Woods behind the Cabin, 2002, by John Laub (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014)

John Laub, c. 1978-1979 photographer unknown. Photograph courtesy of Bruce Kingsley

2003 Solo exhibition: The Four Seasons, Fischbach Gallery, New York, May 29–June 27. Group exhibition: Fire Island Pines Arts Project 9th Biennial Art Show, opens August 16.

2005 Dies of leukemia on March 3. Group exhibition: Fire Island Pines Art Project 10th Biennial Art Show, opens August 6; show is

2004

dedicated to Sylvan Cole and John Laub.

Group exhibition: Little Worlds, Fischbach Gallery, New York, April 22–May 22.

2006 Solo exhibition: John Laub, In My Time, Fischbach Gallery, New York, June 1–30.

2007 Group exhibition: Fire Island Pines Art Project 11th Biennial Art Show, opens August 11.

2012 Solo exhibition: Beautiful Day, Fischbach Gallery, New York, May 31–June 30.

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WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION All works are by John Laub (American, 1947–2005).

Self-Portrait, Frontal View, 1979 Oil on linen, 30 x 39 in., triptych Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Fire Island Pines Harbor at Night, 1987 Oil on canvas, 17 x 21 in.

Judy’s House, 1991 Oil on linen, 48 x 58 in.

Collection of Cheryl and Burt Bierman

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Grand Canyon, 1988 Oil on linen, 24 x 64 in.

Table Tops, 1991 Oil on linen, 24 x 64 in.

Collection of Roselle and Brian Kaltner

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Dickie Dog at the Beach, 1987 Oil on linen, 20 x 22 in.

Scott and Dickie Dog II, 1988 Watercolor on paper, 12 x 18 in.

Tenth Annual Morning Party, 1991 Silkscreen, 15 x 30 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Central Park, 1985 Oil on canvas, 18 x 29 in.

Fire Island Pines Deck on the Bay, 1987 Oil on linen, 36 x 72 in.

Dickie Dog, 1990 Oil on linen, 36 x 48 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Collection of Frank Stark

Grand Canyon, 1988, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

Big Boat in Harbor, 1992 Oil on linen, 54 x 36 in. Collection of Bruce Kingsley


Yosemite Falls, 1994, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub) THE JOURNEYS OF JOHN LAUB: FIRE ISLAND AND BEYOND

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Lavender Lake, 1995, by John Laub (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014)

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM


Villefranche, 1995 Oil on linen, 46 x 78 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Donna’s Garden, 1996 Oil on linen, 30 x 58 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Inside Sumner’s Garden, 1996 Oil on linen, 68 x 72 in. Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Autos along Ocean Drive, 1995, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

Boats by the Dock in the Harbor, 1992 Silkscreen, 12 x 14 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Lagoon, 1993 Silkscreen, 10 x 19 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Chairs in the Cutting Garden, 1994 Serigraph, 13 1/4 x 30 1/4 in., proof 1 of 2 Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Chairs in the Cutting Garden, 1994 Serigraph, 13 1/2 x 26 in., proof 2 of 2 Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Good Hope Plantation, 1994 Oil on linen, 71 x 50 in.

Yosemite Falls, 1994 Oil on linen, 30 x 12 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Autos along Ocean Drive, 1995 Oil on linen, 30 x 48 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Morning Party, 1996 Silkscreen, 13 x 25 in. Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Path from the Carrington House, 1996 Oil on linen, 84 x 68 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Bruce and Buster, 1997 Oil on linen, 20 x 16 in. Collection of Bruce Kingsley

Lavender Lake, 1995 Oil on linen, 42 x 54 in.

Fall, Willow Brook, 1997 Oil on linen, 48 x 56 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Morning Fog, 1995 Oil on linen, 11 x 22 in.

Flowers, “100 Million in Sales” Party at Serrono, 1997 Oil on linen, 24 x 24 in.

Collection of Bruce Kingsley

Collection of Lorraine and Ben Alexander

Secret Spot, 1995 Oil on linen, 42 ½ x 36 in.

Spring Thaw, 1997 Oil on linen, 34 x 30 in.

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

THE JOURNEYS OF JOHN LAUB: FIRE ISLAND AND BEYOND

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Big Sur Cove, 1998 Oil on linen, 46 x 46 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Flowers, Quitsa, 1998 Oil on linen, 16 x 16 in. Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Last Morning Party, 1998 Oil on linen, 24 x 36 in. Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Quitsa, Dock and Big Boat, 1998 Oil on linen, 36 x 36 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Tuileries Café, 1998 Oil on linen, 18 x 24 in. Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Fall, Willow Brook, 1997, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub)

Tahiti Garden, 1999 Oil on linen, 78 x 46 in.

Woods behind the Cabin, 2002 Oil on linen, 18 x 36 in.

Collection of Lorraine and Ben Alexander

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub, 2014

Winding Garden Path, 1998 Oil on linen, 38 x 62 in.

Harbor Sunset, 2001 Serigraph, 16 x 22 1/2 in.

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Vertical Path, 1998 Oil on linen, 56 x 44 in.

High Noon on the Beach, 1999 Oil on linen, 36 x 48 in.

Vineyard Vista, 2001 Silkscreen, 12 x 13 in.

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

Untitled (Fence), date unknown Watercolor on paper, 18 1/8 x 24 in. Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub


Woodmere Art Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Support provided in part by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Š 2017 Woodmere Art Museum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher. Photography by Rick Echelmeyer unless otherwise noted. Catalogue designed by Barb Barnett and edited by Gretchen Dykstra. Front cover: Tahiti Garden, 1999, by John Laub (Courtesy of Bruce Kingsley and the Estate of John Laub) THE JOURNEYS OF JOHN LAUB: FIRE ISLAND AND BEYOND

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| woodmereartmuseum.org


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