Robert Natkin
(1930-2010)
Robert Natkin was a founder of the Lyrical Expressionist movement, whose artists moved away from Minimalism toward a new aesthetic where color and painterly expression returned to painting with a fluidity that contrasted with the gestural nature of Abstract Expressionism.
Many of Natkin’s works are composed of a poetic visual language of floating shapes, letters, and grids which resonate with a luminous palette. The frequently playful motifs, reminiscent of his idol Paul Klee, convey both an intimacy and a sense of dramatic tension. Like another of his heroes, Alfred Hitchcock, Natkin has created visual worlds, places of escape from the mundane and every day to a magical dimension composed of light and color. The results are paintings that seem quiet and intimate even as some may try to deliver a disquieting message.
The current exhibition of recently acquired work includes exceptional examples from Natkin’s Hitchcock, Bern, Fieldmouse, Intimate Lighting, and Apollo series.
Robert Indiana
(1928-2018)
The root of Robert Indiana’s LOVE imagery first appeared in a series of love poems written and laid out by Indiana in the late1950s. In that context the letters L,O,V, and E appear stacked 2 by 2.
By 1964, Indiana had composed the first version of LOVE in its current form for a Christmas card he sent to friends. The following year he was asked by MoMA to submit designs for the museum’s annual Christmas card, for which he submitted 3 LOVE paintings. The extraordinary popularity of the image led to its first limited edition print, and a near universal icon was born.
Findlay Galleries’ current exhibition surrounds the visitor with LOVE tapestries of various color combinations. The tapestries translate his iconic image into a soft, tactile medium that deepens its emotional pull. As a tapestry, the crisp geometry of the image takes on a sense of warmth and intimacy while preserving its striking clarity.
On a wall, or even on a floor, these works bring a sense of joy, peace, reassurance, and even security to the viewer. The wool tapestries are signed and numbered from limited editions of 175 and 100.
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