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NORMAN BLUHM

Past viewing_room
28 July - 1 September, 2022
  • NORMAN BLUHM

    (1920 - 1999)

    28 JULY - 1 September 2022
    Group Portrait with Russell Connor, 1974
  • Miles McEnery Gallery was pleased to announce an exhibition of paintings by Norman Bluhm. The artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery was opened on 28 July at 525 West 22nd Street and remained on view through 1 September 2022. The exhibition was accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue featuring an essay by Zachary Ritter. 

  • Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, "Norman Bluhm," 28 July - 1 September 2022

  • 'Bluhm’s steady, curving surfaces insistently evoke the flesh, the human figure, in which, he held, “all the great form really...
    "Bluhm’s steady, curving surfaces insistently evoke the flesh, the human figure, in which, he held, “all the great form really exists.” That the flesh that obsessed him was female is attested to by some of the paintings’ titles, such as Sooty Lady and Mermaid’s Delight, both 1978. The paradox is that while the resulting imagery is 'absolutely corporeal,' as Jane Livingston wrote in a 1977 catalogue essay for the artist’s work, it never resolves into closed organic shapes. "
    - Barry Schwabsky in "Norman Bluhm" in Artforum
    READ MORE
  • Norman Bluhm was born on March 28, 1920, in Chicago, IL to Henry Bluhm and Rosa Goldstein. He lived in Florence, Italy with his mother and his younger brother, William from 1925 - 1929 while his father worked on an engineering project in the Soviet Union. In 1944, he was discharged from the U.S. Army Air Corps. In 1945, he returned briefly to architectural studies at the Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL and then decided to pursue painting. In 1946, he moved to Florence, Italy, and studied fresco painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.

  • Norman Bluhm in his Studio, Millbrook, NY Image courtesy of Kerby Smith (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Norman Bluhm in his Studio, Millbrook, NY Image courtesy of Kerby Smith (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Norman Bluhm in his Studio, Millbrook, NY Image courtesy of Kerby Smith (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Norman Bluhm in his Studio, Millbrook, NY Image courtesy of Kerby Smith (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Norman Bluhm in his Studio, Millbrook, NY Image courtesy of Kerby Smith (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Norman Bluhm in his Studio, Millbrook, NY
    Image courtesy of Kerby Smith

  • In 1956 he moved to New York, NY, and rented a studio at 333 Park Avenue South. In New York,...
    Norman and Cary Bluhm at Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1972
    In 1956 he moved to New York, NY, and rented a studio at 333 Park Avenue South. In New York, he began showing at Leo Castelli Gallery. In 1960, he met Cary Ogle, who was working at Staempfli Gallery on East 77th Street, and married her in 1961 at Shirley Kaplan’s family home in Norwalk, CT, followed by an extended honeymoon in Italy.
  • NORMAN BLUHM Untitled, Studies in Blue, White, Gray, 1975 Oil on canvas 48 x 240 inches 121.9 x 609.6 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Untitled, Studies in Blue, White, Gray, 1975

    Oil on canvas

    48 x 240 inches

    121.9 x 609.6 cm

  • Norman Bluhm, Millbrook, NY Image courtesy of Kerby Smith
    Norman Bluhm, Millbrook, NY
    Image courtesy of Kerby Smith
  • NORMAN BLUHM Henri Did It, 1972 Oil on canvas 96 x 116 inches 243.8 x 294.6 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Henri Did It, 1972

    Oil on canvas

    96 x 116 inches

    243.8 x 294.6 cm

  • “In 1970 Bluhm and his family left New York City for the town of Millbrook in upstate New York. The city gave way to the countryside, and Bluhm was ready to leave his exploration of free-form, all-over compositions behind in favor of more sinuous, more sensuous, ways of constructing space.”

    - Zachary Ritter

  • NORMAN BLUHM Viper Lady, 1979 Oil on canvas 77 x 107 inches 195.6 x 271.8 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Viper Lady, 1979

    Oil on canvas

    77 x 107 inches

    195.6 x 271.8 cm

  • "Norman used to say that if he only lived to be a hundred (or was it 120) he might become a great painter. On one hand, this was an absurd thing to say since Norman had a painterly ability that outstripped just about any living artist one could think of and had been making great paintings for some time – he made the kind of work where a few square inches of one of his canvases would contain enough visual ideas to keep most other painters busy for an entire career."

    -  Raphael Rubinstein

  • NORMAN BLUHM Crustadéle, 1976 Oil on canvas 96 x 84 inches 243.8 x 213.4 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Crustadéle, 1976

    Oil on canvas

    96 x 84 inches

    243.8 x 213.4 cm

    • “Just as Bluhm was expanding his visual language, he, along with other painters still committed to some form of abstract expressionist painting, like his friends Mitchell and Francis.” - Zachary Ritter

      “Just as Bluhm was expanding his visual language, he, along with other painters still committed to some form of abstract expressionist painting, like his friends Mitchell and Francis.” 

      - Zachary Ritter

    • Norman Bluhm and Joan Mitchell in his studio, 1971 Image Courtesy of Felix Roulin

      Norman Bluhm and Joan Mitchell in his studio, 1971

      Image Courtesy of Felix Roulin

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  • NORMAN BLUHM Ice Blue, 1978 Oil on canvas 76 x 106 inches 193 x 269.2 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Ice Blue, 1978

    Oil on canvas

    76 x 106 inches

    193 x 269.2 cm

  • Schimmel, P. in Pearlstein, Norman Bluhm, 1976
  • NORMAN BLUHM Mermaid's Delight, 1978 Oil on canvas 76 x 106 inches 193 x 269.2 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Mermaid's Delight, 1978

    Oil on canvas

    76 x 106 inches

    193 x 269.2 cm

  • NORMAN BLUHM Sooty Lady, 1978 Oil on canvas 76 x 106 inches 193 x 269.2 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Sooty Lady, 1978

    Oil on canvas

    76 x 106 inches

    193 x 269.2 cm

  • NORMAN BLUHM Milkmaid, 1977 Oil on canvas 60 x 112 3/4 inches 152.4 x 286.4 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Milkmaid, 1977

    Oil on canvas

    60 x 112 3/4 inches

    152.4 x 286.4 cm

  • NORMAN BLUHM Coral Dream Girl, 1978 Oil on canvas 89 x 76 inches 226.1 x 193 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Coral Dream Girl, 1978

    Oil on canvas

    89 x 76 inches

    226.1 x 193 cm

  • NORMAN BLUHM Untitled, 1979 Oil on canvas 48 x 108 3/8 inches 121.9 x 275.3 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Untitled, 1979

    Oil on canvas

    48 x 108 3/8 inches

    121.9 x 275.3 cm

  • "Norman was the rarest of all artists: he was an artist who read and loved poetry. He didn't care that I wrote about art, didn't think of me as an art critic. In fact, he worried about it and would ask, when we spoke on the phone, if I was "typing for dollars," and then tell me I had to write more poems, that that's what was important. I can count the number of artists who asked me that question on one hand."

     - John Yau for Norman Bluhm (1920-1999)
  • NORMAN BLUHM Untitled, 1978 Acrylic and pastel on paper 25 x 112 inches 63.5 x 284.5 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Untitled, 1978

    Acrylic and pastel on paper

    25 x 112 inches

    63.5 x 284.5 cm

  • NORMAN BLUHM Untitled, 1974 Acrylic and pastel on paper 22 x 90 inches 55.9 x 228.6 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Untitled, 1974

    Acrylic and pastel on paper

    22 x 90 inches

    55.9 x 228.6 cm

  • NORMAN BLUHM Untitled, 1976 Acrylic and pastel on canvas 47 3/8 x 37 1/2 inches 120.3 x 95.3 cm

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Untitled, 1976

    Acrylic and pastel on canvas

    47 3/8 x 37 1/2 inches

    120.3 x 95.3 cm

  • NORMAN BLUHM was born in Chicago in 1920. He attended the Armour Institute of Technology (now the Illinois Institute of...

     Norman Bluhm in his Studio, Millbrook, NY, 1998
    Image courtesy of Don Ross

    NORMAN BLUHM was born in Chicago in 1920. He attended the Armour Institute of Technology (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) and studied architecture under Mies van der Rohe. After serving in the Second World War, he decided not to continue his architectural studies and instead began to study art. First, he attended the Accademia di Belle Arte in Florence, Italy and afterward, the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France.

     

    During his lifetime, Bluhm’s work was the subject of solo exhibitions at Washburn Gallery, New York, NY; Riva Yares Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ; Zolla-Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL; Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.; Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, NY and Paul Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.  He was also included in numerous group exhibitions at such venues as the Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport, CA; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA; Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY; the National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; the Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C.; Galerie Stadler, Paris, France; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA and The Parrish Art Museum, among others.

     

    His work may be found in such permanent collections as the Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX; the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY.

     

    Norman Bluhm died in 1999 at the age of 78 in East Wallingford, Vermont.

    • Norman Bluhm Untitled, Studies in Blue, White, Gray, 1975 Oil on canvas 48 x 240 inches 121.9 x 609.6 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Untitled, Studies in Blue, White, Gray, 1975
      Oil on canvas
      48 x 240 inches
      121.9 x 609.6 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Henri Did It, 1972 Oil on canvas 96 x 116 inches 243.8 x 294.6 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Henri Did It, 1972
      Oil on canvas
      96 x 116 inches
      243.8 x 294.6 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Mermaid's Delight, 1978 Oil on canvas 76 x 106 inches 193 x 269.2 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Mermaid's Delight, 1978
      Oil on canvas
      76 x 106 inches
      193 x 269.2 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Crustadéle, 1976 Oil on canvas 96 x 84 inches 243.8 x 213.4 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Crustadéle, 1976
      Oil on canvas
      96 x 84 inches
      243.8 x 213.4 cm
    • Normam Bluhm Ice Blue, 1978 Oil on canvas 76 x 106 inches 193 x 269.2 cm
      Normam Bluhm
      Ice Blue, 1978
      Oil on canvas
      76 x 106 inches
      193 x 269.2 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Viper Lady, 1979 Oil on canvas 77 x 107 inches 195.6 x 271.8 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Viper Lady, 1979
      Oil on canvas
      77 x 107 inches
      195.6 x 271.8 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Sooty Lady, 1978 Oil on canvas 76 x 106 inches 193 x 269.2 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Sooty Lady, 1978
      Oil on canvas
      76 x 106 inches
      193 x 269.2 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Milkmaid, 1977 Oil on canvas 60 x 112 3/4 inches 152.4 x 286.4 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Milkmaid, 1977
      Oil on canvas
      60 x 112 3/4 inches
      152.4 x 286.4 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Coral Dream Girl, 1978 Oil on canvas 89 x 76 inches 226.1 x 193 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Coral Dream Girl, 1978
      Oil on canvas
      89 x 76 inches
      226.1 x 193 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Untitled, 1979 Oil on canvas 48 x 108 3/8 inches 121.9 x 275.3 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Untitled, 1979
      Oil on canvas
      48 x 108 3/8 inches
      121.9 x 275.3 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Untitled, 1978 Acrylic and pastel on paper 25 x 112 inches 63.5 x 284.5 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Untitled, 1978
      Acrylic and pastel on paper
      25 x 112 inches
      63.5 x 284.5 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Untitled, 1974 Acrylic and pastel on paper 22 x 90 inches 55.9 x 228.6 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Untitled, 1974
      Acrylic and pastel on paper
      22 x 90 inches
      55.9 x 228.6 cm
    • Norman Bluhm Untitled, 1976 Acrylic and pastel on canvas 47 3/8 x 37 1/2 inches 120.3 x 95.3 cm
      Norman Bluhm
      Untitled, 1976
      Acrylic and pastel on canvas
      47 3/8 x 37 1/2 inches
      120.3 x 95.3 cm
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