Sam Kootz

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Sam Kootz , actually Samuel Melvin Kootz (* 1898 in Portsmouth (Virginia) , † 1982 in New York ) was an American gallery owner . Kootz is considered an important patron of the Abstract Expressionists .

Life

Kootz graduated from the University of Virginia with a law degree . After he had finished his studies in 1921 and had worked briefly as a lawyer, he moved to New York and worked there as an account manager for an advertising agency. During this time he published his first book, "Modern American Painters" (1930), which dealt with contemporary American avant-garde artists. In 1930 he switched to fashion design. During this time there were many artistic contacts with the New York avant-garde, so Kootz was able to win Stuart Davis as a designer. In 1942 he curated an exhibition with Abstract Expressionists in the Macy’s department store , and in 1942 his second book "New Frontiers in American Painting" was published, in which the Abstract Expressionists were first described. The following year he decided to open a gallery. The gallery's first artists included Robert Motherwell , Adolph Gottlieb , Hans Hofmann, and William Baziotes .

After the Second World War , Kootz was the first to dedicate a retrospective to Pablo Picasso in the USA in 1947 . Picasso persuaded Kootz to represent him exclusively. Kootz agreed and closed his gallery. But only a little later he reopened a gallery on Madison Avenue . He devoted his first exhibition here again to the Abstract Expressionists. In the following years he concentrated on these artists. The gallery became an important meeting place and exhibition space for the New York art scene.

In 1966, Kootz closed the gallery because he believed the gallery had lost its authorization.

meaning

Alongside Betty Parsons' gallery and Peggy Guggenheim's “ Art of This Century ” gallery, Kootz's gallery was the most important in New York in the 1940s and 1950s. Kootz was one of the major supporters of Abstract Expressionists such as Motherwell, Baziotes and Jackson Pollock . The exhibition “The Intrasubjectives” in autumn 1949 and the show “Talent 1950” conceived with Greenberg and Schapiro, which presented the second generation of Abstract Expressionists, were groundbreaking. Kootz was considered a busy businessman who also made sure that Abstract Expressionism became known beyond the borders of the USA.

Works

  • Modern American Painters . New York, 1930
  • New Frontiers in American Painting . Hasting House, New York, 1942
  • Puzzle in paint . New York, 1943
  • Women; a collaboration of artists and writers . new York

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sam Kootz at The Art Story
  2. ^ Samuel Kootz at dictionaryofarthistorians.com
  3. ^ The development of the art trade after 1945 , artnet.de
personal data
SURNAME Kootz, Sam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kootz, Samuel Melvin (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American gallery owner
DATE OF BIRTH 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Portsmouth, Virginia
DATE OF DEATH 1982
Place of death new York