Description

This is a pastel figural drawing on paper in subtle shades of purple and blue. On his estate's website it is written "From the 1930s through his final work in 1993, Burkhardt’s art presents a poignant testament to the human experience. His output includes monumental anti-war work (“the fiercer ones”) as well as lyrical expressions of hope (“the happy ones”)." Despite the fact that this work was completed during the height of the Vietnam War, by which Burkhardt was deeply affected, the drawing's softness seems to suggest a glimmer of hope during that dark period.

Details

• Hans Gustav Burkhardt (Swiss/American, 1904-1994)
• Untitled figural
• Pastel on paper
  
• Signed and dated in lower right hand corner
  
• 28 3/4" x 21 1/2" (overall) 22" x 15" (sight)
• Newly framed under plexiglass
• Even toning to paper

About the Artist

We are excited to have two works by Hans Burkhardt in our collection. He is one of the big names in the history of abstract expressionism, both in New York and in Los Angeles. Born in 1904 in Basel, Switzerland, he had a tragic early life. Abandoned by his father and briefly reunited with him in New York after his mother's death from tuberculosis, Burkhardt found himself alone again at age twenty after his father's sudden death in a car accident. He dabbled in art and supported himself through work at a furniture company until enrolling at the Cooper Union School of the Arts from 1925-1928 where he befriended Willem de Kooning and Arshille Gorky. Gorky became a close friend and mentor to Burkhardt. They collaborated on several works and shared a studio space from 1928-1937. The 1930s in New York were important years in the development of abstract expressionism and Hans Burkhardt was very much in the thick of things. When he relocated to Los Angeles in 1937 he took the abstract expressionist movement with him, exhibiting alongside such artists as Man Ray, Knud Merrild, and Eugene Berman. Burkhardt was recognized for his contribution to the LA art scene with an important solo show at the Stendahl Gallery in 1939 and a solo show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in 1945. After his first trip to Mexico in 1950, Burkhardt would spend the next decade living half of the year in and around Guadalajara. Overall, in the 1950s Burkhardt held 23 solo exhibitions in Los Angeles and Mexico, and participated in group shows at over thirty museums worldwide. Burkhardt taught at numerous colleges and universities and retired as a professor emeritus from California State University at Northridge. His work is in the collections of numerous world class museums including the Whitney, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, LACMA, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,  the Corcoran Gallery, and the Kunstmuseum in his native Switzerland. 

For more information go to https://www.hansburkhardtestate.com