SIGMUND ABELES
SELECTED BIOGRAPHY
REPRESENTATION:
The Old Print Shop, NYC
Hampton III Gallery, SC
Davidson Galleries, WA
The Art of The Print, Ontario Canada
EDUCATION:
Columbia University, NYC, MFA in Painting, 1957
Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME, summers 1955 & 1956
Brooklyn Museum School, Brooklyn, NY, Graphics, 1956
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, BA in Fine Arts, 1955
TEACHING:
Art Students League of New York, 1997–2000
University New Hampshire, Durham, 1970–87, Full Prof./tenure, elected Prof. Emeritus 1987
Boston University, School of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Associate Prof., 1969–1970
Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, Resident Artist, 1964–1969
Swain School of Design, New Bedford, MA, Instructor, 1961–1964
GRANTS & AWARDS (PARTIAL LIST):
Benjamin West Clinedinst Memorial Medal, Artist Fellowship Inc., New York, NY, 2017
Hall of Fame Honoree, Pastel Society of America, National Arts Club, 2004
Artist Residency Program, Chateau Rochefort-en-Terre, Brittany, France, summer 2000
Honorary Doctorate of Arts Degree and commencement speaker, Coastal Carolina U., 2000
Florsheim Foundation Grant for pastel purchase to the Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC, 1992
Florsheim Foundation Grant for retrospective catalog, 1987
American Academy of Arts and Letters Purchase Prize for Spring Morning, pastel, 1982
American Jewish Committee Academic Seminar in Israel, 1981–1982
Elected National Academician, National Academy of Design, NY, 1977
Louis Comfort Tifany Foundation Grant for Graphics, 1967
National Council of Arts & Humanities Sabbatical Grant, 1966
American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for etchings, 1965
WORKSHOPS (PARTIAL LIST):
Master Class, Drypoint From the Figure, The New York Academy, NYC, 2013
Advanced Figure Workshop, The National Academy School, NYC, 1998 & 2004
Realist Symposium & Workshops, co-directed with Jack Beal, Henry Clews Foundation, La Napoule, France, summer, 1985
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (PARTIAL LIST):
It Figures, The Art of Sigmund Abeles, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, curated by Todd Herman, 2011. This exhibition traveled to Hampton III Gallery, Greenville, SC and The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC, 2012–2013
Sigmund Abeles, A Solo Exhibition with Selected Works, LARAC’S Lapham Gallery, Glens Falls, NY, 2013
Figuratively Speaking, The Art of Sigmund Abeles, The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC, 2012
Drawn to the Figure, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI, 2011
Sigmund Abeles, Pastels, Prints, Drawings and Sculpture, Visual Arts Gallery, SUNY Adirondack, Queensbury, New York, 2011
Sigmund Abeles at 75, Celebrating Life and Art, The Culture Center, New York, NY, 2009
Sigmund Abeles: Passionate Lives, Passionate Lines, concurrent exhibitions, Park Row Gallery and the Joyce Goldstein Gallery, Chatham, NY, 2009
Sigmund Abeles: Prints, Drawings, Paintings and Sculpture, The Old Print Shop, NYC, catalog, 2008
Sigmund Abeles: From Whence I’ve Come, The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC, catalog, with essay by Tom Johnson, 2007
An Intimate Look, Prints by Sigmund Abeles, McKissick Museum, Univ. of SC, Columbia, SC, July 16 - Sept. 17th, 2005
Sigmund Abeles, Now and Then, Hampton III Gallery, Greenville, SC, 2005
Sigmund Abeles - Pastels, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 2004–2005
Sigmund Abeles Drawings & Prints, The Drawing Studio, Tucson, AZ, 2003
Sigmund Abeles, Of Things to Come, Burroughs/Chapin Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC, 2001
Sigmund Abeles, Pastels, Dwgs, and Prints (1966-2000), Thomas Williams Fine Arts,
London, UK, catalog, 2000
Sigmund Abeles, The Artist and His Prints 1954-1999, Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME, catalog w/complete print listing, 1999
Sigmund Abeles: Paintings, Pastels, Prints & Dwgs., Hudson River Gallery, Dobbs Ferry, NY, 1999
Paintings and Pastels, The Century Association, The President’s Room, NYC, 1999
Sigmund Abeles, concurrent solo exhibitions in Lowell MA: The New York Years, Recent Paintings, Drawings, and Earlier Sculpture, The Brush Art Gallery and Sigmund Abeles (1970–1994), The Whistler Museum of Art, 1998
The Observant Hand, 40 Years of Drawing by Sigmund Abeles, Pollock Gallery, Southern Methodist U., Dallas TX, 1998, catalog
A 30 Year Retrospective of Drawings & Prints From the Collection of the Boston Public Library, 1993
Sigmund Abeles, A Retrospective, curated by Linda Poras, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Ma, January 31-March 28, 1993
Sigmund Abeles, Pastels, Oils, Prints & Drawings, curated by Robert Doty, catalog preface by Charles Simic, traveling retrospective: The Manchester Institute of Arts, Manchester, NH;
New England College Gallery, Henniker, NH; McKissick Museum of Art, U. of SC, Columbia, SC; The Fine Arts Center/Cheekwood, Nashville, TN; Wellington B. Gray Gallery, East Carolina U., Greenville, NC; Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA, catalog 1992–1993
The Max Drawings, An Artist/Father Draws His Premature Son to Health: 1985–1992,
13 sites including: The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH, The Trition Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA, The Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, Yeshiva Univ. Museum of Art, NYC, Univ. of West Virginia, Morgantown, WV, The Shere Zadik Hospital Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel
Sigmund Abeles, Retrospective, Drawings, Sculpture, Pastels & Prints, University Art Gallery, UNH, Durham, NH, 1988
Sigmund Abeles Pastels, Recent Works, Barridoff Galleries, Portland, ME, 1984
Sigmund Abeles, Pastels, Mary Ryan Gallery, NYC, 1983
Sigmund Abeles, Recent Pastels, Impressions Gallery, Boston, 1981
Sigmund Abeles: The First 20 Years, Prints & Drawings, traveling exhibition, 1979–1981,
five sites including: Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, U. of Nebraska, Lincoln, NB; University Art Galleries, U. of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD; Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AK; Weatherspoon Art Gallery, U. of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC; Albrecht Art Museum, St. Joseph, MO, catalog.
Recent Drawings, traveling exhibition: U. of NH, Durham, NH; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswich, ME; De Cordova Museum & Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA, 1971–1972, catalog
Prints and Drawings, Jewett Art Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley MA 1966
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS (PARTIAL LIST):
Carolina Roots: Selected Works by Sigmund Abeles and Grainger McKoy, Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC, 2015
Uncommon Expressions: The Drawings of Sigmund Abeles and Jerome Witkin, Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, NC, 2008
The Figure Drawn: Works on Paper by Sigmund Abeles and Philip Grausman, Union College, Schenectady, New York, 2004
Between Life and Death, Sigmund Abeles: The Max Drawings & Deidre Scherer: The Last Year, Newton Free Library, Newton, MA, 1988
Sigmund Abeles and Lotte Jacobi, AVA Gallery, Hanover, NH, 1983
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (PARTIAL LIST):
2nd China (Suzhou) Biennial International Pastel Exhibition, Ming Art Gallery, Suzhou City, China, Traveling Exhibition, 2016 – 2017
Traveling Exhibition, 2016 – 2017
Military Veterans at The Art Students League of New York, 2015
The Depth of The Surface, 189th Annual Exhibition, National Academy Museum, New York, 2014
The Way of The Flesh Part II, Mt. San Antonio College of Art Gallery, CA, 2014
Sigmund Abeles: Pastels, Greenville County Museum of Art, SC, 2014
Take Home a Nude, New York Academy of Art benefit auction, Sotheby’s New York, 2013
The Art of Influence, Asian Propaganda, British Museum, London, UK, 2013
Unadored: Drawings of the Nude from the Pollock Works on Paper Study Collection by Four Artists: Sigmund Abeles, Lois Dodd, Nathan Oliveira, and John Lincoln, Pollack Gallery, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, 2012
The Figure in Contemporary Art, Cypress College Art Gallery, Cypress CA, 2012
War and Remembrance, University of New Hampshire Museum of Art, Durham, NH, 2010
Humanity: 100 Years of Figurative Art, ACA Galleries, NYC, 2009
Drawing Today, New Arts Gallery, Litchfield CT, 2005
Memorials of War, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, 2004
100 Years/100 Artists, South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, SC, 2004
The Art of Aging, Artists from Israel, England and North America, Hebrew Union College, NYC, curated by Laura Kruger, catalog, 2003–2004. Traveled to: Atlanta Jewish Community Center, Dunwoody, GA; Rubin Gallery, Boca Raton, FL, 2004
Recent Acquisitions of American Prints, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK, 1999
Artists/Mentors, Denise Bibro Gallery, NYC, 1999
Psychologically Charged: Sigmund Abeles, Gregory Gillespie, Paul Matthews, Jerome Witkin, U. of VT, Burlington, VT, 1996 & SUNY Plattsburg, NY, 1997
Collecting For a College, Gifts From David P. Becker, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, 1995
Self-aMUSED: The Contemporary Artist as Observer and Observed, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA, 1993
Figure Drawings: Sigmund Abeles, Sidney Goodman & Jody Mussoff, Atrium Gallery, U. of CT, Storrs, CT, 1992
With Nothing On, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA, 1990
Fools For Love: Contemporary Erotic Art, Weir Gallery, Berkeley, CA, 1989
Man-Woman-Child, John Szoke Gallery, NYC, 1989
Works on Paper: Abeles, Basilitz, Chia, Dine, Harris & Mazur, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
MA, 1988
The Animal Kingdom, Associated American Artists Galleries, NYC, 1986
Prints USA, Pratt Graphic Center, NYC, 1982
Exhibition of Works by Newly Elected Members and Awards, American Academy of Arts and Letters, NYC, purchase prize, 1982
Contemporary American Realism: Drawings, Boston Atheneum Gallery, Boston, MA, 1982
The Figure Observed Contemporary Life Drawings, College of Fine Arts, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL, 1982
Contemporary American Realism on Paper from the Collection of Jalane & Richard Davidson, Penn. Academy of Fine Arts & Chicago Art Institute, 1982
American Portrait Drawings, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, 1980
A Selection of American Art, The Skowhegan School, 1946–1976, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA, 1976
Living American Artists & The Figure, Penn. State U. Museum of Art, Univ. Park, PA, 1974
16 American Artists of Protest, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, 1971
American Contemporary Prints, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK, 1970
Human Concerns/Personal Torment, Whitney Museum, NYC, 1969
Drawings by Young Americans, Ogunquit Museum of Art, Ogunquit, ME, 1969
28 American Printmakers, Rijksacademie, Amsterdam, Holland, 1968
Protest & Hope, New School for Social Research, NYC, 1967
Whitney Annual, Sculpture & Prints, NYC, 1966
New Talent in Printmaking, AAA Galleries, NYC, 1965
Exhibition of Works by Newly Elected Members and Awards, American Academy of Arts and Letters, NYC, (award), 1965
FILM:
Abeles was prominently featured as “the etcher” in Manfred Kirchheimer’s feature length documentary, Art Is…The Permanent Revolution, focused on the methods of print making and the history of the art of protest in prints. Premiered at the Quad Theater, NYC, 2012
WORKS IN PERMANENT COLLECTIONS: (PARTIAL LIST):
Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, CA
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME
Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
British Museum, London, UK
Brookgreen Gardens, SC
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, OH
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME
Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH
Fitzwilliams Museum, Oxford, UK
Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA
Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
Harvard Semitic Museum, Cambridge, MA
Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, HI
Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN
Judah Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY
Museo de Arte, Ponce, PR
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Modern Art, NYC
National Academy of Design, NYC
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, Providence, RI
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
New York Public Library, NYC
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philidelphia, PA
Philidelphia Museum of Art, Philidelphia, PA
Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL
Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, UT
San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS (PARTIAL LIST):
Albert and Kate Merck, MA
Alfred Brendel, London, UK
Anna Kate and Hayne Hipp, SC
Anne Cohen Esq., NYC
Bill & Doborah Binnell, NYC & CT
Clare Henry & Philip Bruno, NYC
Curtis & Jackeye Finch, AR
David Henderson, SC
Dr. Alfonso Pluchinotta, Italy
Edwin & Thayer Hockberg, NYC
Eric Greenleaf, NYC
George Dean Johnson, SC
Hal & Barbara Laeger, NJ
Joe & Bernice Tanenbaum, NY
Joe Yohlin, PA
John & Lisa Hall, NYC
Joseph Fuery & Lee Grant, NYC
Ken Pollard, NY
Kit & Geraldine Laybourne, NY
Linda & Douglas Honnold, IL
Mrs. Frank H. Pearl, DC & NYC
Neil Feitag, Paris, France
Nora Lavori, NYC
Richard Davidson, IL
Robert Henry and Nancy Wu, NY
Ron Ruble, WI
Thomas Williams, UK
Udo and Iris Bensch, Switzerland
Walter and Sanra Wilkie, NYC
Wende Caporale & Daniel Greene, CT
William Carl, NC
Yasuteru Miyamoto, Japan