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 Sigmund Abeles realist pastel
Artists' Studio Visits at Biddington's Contemporary Art Gallery

Sigmund Abeles
Expressive Realist Painter & Printmaker

Current Exhibitions:
Sigmund Abeles
"Passionate Lives / Passionate Lines"
Joint Exhibition
Park Row Gallery and Joyce Goldstein Gallery
Chatham, NY
May 23-June 27, 2009
(Openings evening May 30th)

National Academy Museum
184nd Annual Exhibition
May-June 2009
New York, NY


CREATIVE PROCESS visits the mid-town Manhattan studio of noted expressive realist painter & printmaker Sigmund Abeles.

Abeles large pastel Evening with Mare & Couple (above right)









Abeles Lithograph Conundrum


Abeles: I like art that tells a story. Painting should be everything that theater, literature and movies are.




Abeles lithograph Conundrum (left)










Abeles' Lithograph Woman Playing Solitaire



Abeles: There is a haunting quality to a look; I guess in some way, I try to hold onto that.


Abeles lithograph Solitaire (right)








Abeles: I'm a figurative artist--but not in a straight representational way. My work has an expressionist quality with psychological overtones; it might be called "expressive realism" or "psychological realism". When I look at a figure, I don't see just form--I see who the person is and what the person is feeling.




Abeles'Drawing of Baby MaxSigmund Abeles Drawing of Baby Max

Editors Note: Sigmund Abeles "empathic observation" is shown stretched to the agonizing limit in his extraordinary series called "The Max Drawings". These drawings show his much-premature baby son's progress from incubator to healthy baby. The exhibition including many of this series toured to 13 museums around the United States.

8.4.83 Max's 3rd & Very Stable Day (right)
View selected Mother & Child and Baby Sketches,
Lithograph and Poster
from "The Max Drawings" (left)






Abeles: I started out as a draftsman and printmaker. I didn't begin using color until 1980. Rembrandt and Goya were early influences on my work.

Abeles Etching in Progress
Working on Etching Plate--A Portrait of His Son Max



Abeles: In my art, the depiction of the human figure is everything. I work from models. Color surfaces and tones in my figurative pastels are inspired by the skin colors of my models. The variety is wonderful.

Sigmund Abeles Pastel Asleep in an Empty Studio

Abeles pastel Asleep in an Empty Studio








Abeles Oil Painting

Abeles: But I'm not just focused on the outward appearance of people, I try to convey my feelings about them.


Sigmund Abeles painting Compounded Reflections



Abeles: I begin two or three drawings of the same subject at the same time. After a brief start, I destroy the ones that are not good. When I was teaching, we often did a musical easels drill: Each student would start a drawing--using just a few lines. Then the drawing was passed along to the next person. Invariably we saw that a bad beginning couldn't be fixed no matter how much more work was done on the drawing. So, it isn't useful to be too precious about work in its early stages.

(Editors note: Abeles was a professor and studio artist at Wellesley College, Boston University and University of New Hampshire. He now teaches special classes at the National Academy of Design in NYC.)

Abeles' Painting Nude on Floor with Banana

Abeles pastel Nude on Floor with Banana



Abeles: People often quote me on something I wrote about Degas: "He kept looking when most people look away". When I look, I constantly seek for a corner to start peeling back the surface layers.







Mannequin in Abeles' Studio



Abeles' Studio with Mannequin & Painting









Sigmund Abeles black actress portrait


ABELES:I like doing portraits, but I won't work from photos. If someone wants a portrait, that person has to be willing to sit at least a couple of times for me. But I'll do them in any medium: drawing, pastel or painting--even a print. In fact, I'm surprised I don't get more requests for portraits.


Abeles oil painting on panel
Actor Making Up with Museum Guard











Abeles the Artist in His Studio

Sigmund Abeles



View SIGMUND ABELES' paintings, pastels, drawings & lithographs for sale at
BIDDINGTON'S Contemporary Art Gallery
Price Range: $450-$20,000




See BIDDINGTON'S Sculpture Gallery for information on Sigmund Abeles
sculpture in bronze and in synthetic resins.


Sigmund Abeles resin sculpture


SIGMUND ABELES is represented in more than 100 museums & private collections including:

Museum of Modern Art, New York
Boston Public Library
Art Institute of Chicago
Brooklyn Museum
Williams College Museum
National Academy of Design
Harvard Semitic Museum
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
New York Public Library
San Diego Museum of Art
Yale University Art Gallery
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Arkansas Art Center
Cleveland Museum of Art
Greenville County Museum of Art, SC
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Honolulu Academy of Art
Wichita Art Museum, KS
Worcester Art Museum, MA

Sigmund Abeles studied at the Art Students League with Harry Sternberg, Reginald Marsh and Morris Kantor, and at Pratt Institute, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the Brooklyn Museum School. He has a BA in painting from the University of South Carolina, and a MFA from Columbia University. Abeles has exhibited in more than 20 one-person shows; both his works and words are extensively published. Abeles is a frequent lecturer at The National Arts Club, The Art Students League and The National Academy of Design in New York. Abeles' home state of South Carolina honored the artist in the year 2001 with a major museum retrospective. The University of South Carolina Press is planning to publish a book of Sigmund Abeles life & work.

ABOUT THIS FEATURE

CREATIVE PROCESS at Biddington's is designed as a forum for watching art in the making. Usually, this process happens in the privacy of the artist's studio. At BIDDINGTON'S Contemporary Art Gallery & upmarket, online art & antiques auction--we find it interesting to witness the steps leading to the end product and to hear the artists speak about their work in the relaxed surroundings of their own studios.

Contact Biddington's

BIDDINGTON'S CREATIVE PROCESS Archives:
Sigmund Abeles Expressive Realist Painter
Javier Astorga Figurative Metal Sculpture
Nancy Azara Sculptor
Tova Beck-Friedman Sculptor & Mixed-Media Artist
Todd Bellanca Abstract Painter
Carol Bruns Bronze Figurative Sculptor
James Burnett Non-Objective Painter
Garrison Buxton Abstract Paintings on Paper
Cynthia Capriata Peruvian Painter & Printmaker
Catalina Chervin Argentine Surrealist Artist
Diane Churchill Expressionist Painter
John Clem Clarke Pop Artist
Lisa Dinhofer Illusionist Painter
Michael Eastman Faux-Primitive Painter
Eduardo Fausti Natural History Paintings
Lynne Frehm New York Abstract Painter
Betsey Garand Organic Abstract Painter & Fine Art Printmaker
Mary Teresa Giancoli Personal Documentary Photographer
Debora Gilbert-Ryan New Image Painter
Janet Goldner African-Influenced Steel Sculpture
Harry Gordon Monumental Sculpture
Marilyn Greenberg Narrative Abstract Painter
Patricia Hansen Portrait and Still Life Painter
Richard Heinrich Welded Steel Sculpture
Charles Hewitt Painter & Monotype Printmaker
Diane Holland Intermedia Collage Artist
GH Hovagimyan Pop/Conceptual Artist
LA Hughes Pop Artist
Frances Jetter Bronze Sculptor & Editorial Illustrator
Scott Kahn Fantasy Painter
Susan Kaprov Digital Printmaker and Abstract Painter
Babette Katz Narrative Printmaker and Book Artist
Richard Mock Abstract Painter & Linocut Printmaker
Bill Murphy Contemporary Realist Painter
Jim Napierala Abstract Painter
Frances Pellegrini New York City & Fashion Photographer
Joseph Reeder Cross Media Artist Paintings & Ceramics
Laura Shechter Contemporary Realist Painter
Annemarie Slipper Figurative Ceramic Sculpture
Gary Slipper Fantasy Painter
Margaret Speer Landscape & Travel Paintings
Serena Tallarigo Marble Sculptor
Rein Triefeldt Kinetic Sculpture
Vivian Tsao Painter of Light
Nancy Van Deren Contemporary Painter
Joan Berg Victor Drawings from Nature
Edward Walsh Figurative Sculpture in Bronze, Marble & Steel
Kate Wattson Contemporary Colorist Painter
Betty Winkler Organic Minimalist Painter & Printmaker

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