Theodore Roszak (sculptor)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Theodore Roszak (born May 1, 1907 in Posen , Kingdom of Prussia , † September 3, 1981 in New York City ) was an American sculptor of Polish descent. He is one of the important representatives of constructivism and abstract art after the Second World War, who also worked as a painter .

life and work

Theodore Roszak was born in Posen in 1907 to Polish parents in what was then the German Empire and moved with his parents to the United States at the age of two, in 1909. He studied from 1922 to 1928 at the Art Institute of Chicago with John Norton , Boris Anisfeld and Charles F. Kelley and later in New York. During a stay in Europe from 1929 to 1930, he got to know the classical modernism and the formalism of the Bauhaus and the Czech and Polish constructivists . After his return to the USA he had already internalized László Moholy-Nagy's “ The New Vision ”, a pioneering study of constructivist principles.

He first devoted himself to painting before creating the first sculptures in 1931 . From 1940 to 1945 he worked in the aircraft industry. Experiences with forms and constructions from this time are reflected in his work. His art from the 1930s and 1940s has a modernist and positivist feel. He combined technology and mechanical elements with round, soft shapes. From 1941 photograms were also part of his repertoire . His first steel sculptures were created after 1945. The forms of his sculptures became more and more organic and expressive.

His art did not gain international attention and recognition until the 1950s. He was a participant in documenta 2 in Kassel in 1959 . His works are included in the collections of numerous museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art , the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Smithsonian Institution . His art has been shown in several exhibitions in Paris and New York, particularly after 1978. In 1964 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Works

  • Recording Sound , 1932, plastic / oil on wood (81.3 × 121.9 × 17.1 cm); Smithsonian American Art Museum
  • Bi-Polar in Red , 1940, metal / plastic / wood (137.6 × 21.9 × 21.9 cm); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, inventory no. 79.6ac
  • The Unknown Political Prisoner (Defiant and Triumphant) , 1952; Tate Galery, London, inventory no. N06163

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Members: Theodore J. Roszak. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Recording sound
  3. ↑ Bi-Polar in Red
  4. ↑ The Unknown Political Prisoner (Defiant and Triumphant)
  5. ^ Catalog of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than works by British Artists. Tate Gallery, London 1981, p. 653.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Roszak, Theodore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sculptor and painter
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Poznan , Kingdom of Prussia
DATE OF DEATH 3rd September 1981
Place of death New York City