• Norman Bluhm, ca. 1980s Courtesy of The Estate of Norman Bluhm and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY
    Norman Bluhm, ca. 1980s
    Courtesy of The Estate of Norman Bluhm and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY
  • Norman Bluhm was born on March 28, 1921, 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 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 Argyrus, 1967 Oil on canvas 96 x 80 inches 243.8 x 203.2 cm (MMG#37348)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Argyrus, 1967

    Oil on canvas

    96 x 80 inches

    243.8 x 203.2 cm

    (MMG#37348)

  • NORMAN BLUHM Bulgaroctonus, 1967 Oil on canvas 90 x 80 inches 228.6 x 203.2 cm (MMG#37483)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Bulgaroctonus, 1967

    Oil on canvas
    90 x 80 inches
    228.6 x 203.2 cm
    (MMG#37483)
  • NORMAN BLUHM Ducas, 1967 Oil on canvas 94 3/4 x 80 inches 240.7 x 203.2 cm (MMG#37344)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Ducas, 1967

    Oil on canvas

    94 3/4 x 80 inches 

    240.7 x 203.2 cm

    (MMG#37344)

  • "The current exhibition, focusing on the years 1967 to 1972, is the second presentation of Norman Bluhm’s art by the Miles McEnery Gallery. It follows the gallery’s 2022 exhibition of the artist’s paintings of the 1970s. The luscious, boldly colored paintings of that decade represent the culmination of a path Bluhm began charting in the works that are included in the current exhibition, as he advanced out of abstract expressionism."

    - Alex Grimley in "Norman Bluhm in Context: 1967–1972"

  • NORMAN BLUHM Aphrodite, 1969 Oil on canvas 90 x 86 inches 228.6 x 218.4 cm (MMG#37347)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Aphrodite, 1969

    Oil on canvas

    90 x 86 inches

    228.6 x 218.4 cm

    (MMG#37347)

  • NORMAN BLUHM Thisbe, 1969 Oil on canvas 86 x 76 inches 218.4 x 193 cm (MMG#34174)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Thisbe, 1969

    Oil on canvas

    86 x 76 inches

    218.4 x 193 cm

    (MMG#34174)

  • NORMAN BLUHM Opis, 1970 Oil on canvas 85 x 76 inches 215.9 x 193 cm (MMG#37345)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Opis, 1970

    Oil on canvas

    85 x 76 inches

    215.9 x 193 cm

    (MMG#37345)

  • "In many of his paintings from this period, Bluhm’s gestures push against the edges of the canvas, simultaneously exerting pressure, defying containment, and suggesting expansion into the real space outside the painting. Take, for example, the pink band whipping in from the top of Opis (1970). It careens off the left edge before looping back across the surface."

    - Alex Grimley in "Norman Bluhm in Context: 1967–1972"

  • Norman in Hamilton College, Emerson Gallery, 1987
    Courtesy of The Estate of Norman Bluhm and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY
  • NORMAN BLUHM Chryseis, 1971 Oil on canvas 82 x 73 5/8 inches 208.3 x 187 cm (MMG#37343)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Chryseis, 1971

    Oil on canvas

    82 x 73 5/8 inches

    208.3 x 187 cm

    (MMG#37343)

  • "It is those correspondences between Bluhm’s work of this period and the broader context of late ’60s and early ’70s abstraction that feel most vital at this moment, more than half a century after these works were created. Three qualities stand out: Bluhm’s sensuous color palette, his pictorial engagement with the physical boundaries of the painting, and the loose seriality among the works."

    - Alex Grimley in "Norman Bluhm in Context: 1967–1972"

  • NORMAN BLUHM Priam, 1971 Oil on canvas 48 x 111 inches 121.9 x 281.9 cm (MMG#34157)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Priam, 1971

    Oil on canvas

    48 x 111 inches

    121.9 x 281.9 cm

    (MMG#34157)

  • "Bluhm introduced an array of pinks, periwinkles, lilacs, and light purples into his work. Though it may today be difficult to conceive of a 'controversial' color palette, reviewers characterized these new soft tones in less than favorable terms, finding the colors more appropriate for cosmetic counters and confectionaries than for the creation of high art."

    - Alex Grimley in "Norman Bluhm in Context: 1967–1972"

  • NORMAN BLUHM Tages, 1971 Oil on canvas 48 x 108 inches 121.9 x 274.3 cm (MMG#34178)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Tages, 1971

    Oil on canvas

    48 x 108 inches

    121.9 x 274.3 cm

    (MMG#34178)

  • NORMAN BLUHM Philomela, 1972 Oil on canvas 96 x 108 inches 243.8 x 274.3 cm (MMG#34154)

    NORMAN BLUHM

    Philomela, 1972

    Oil on canvas

    96 x 108 inches

    243.8 x 274.3 cm

    (MMG#34154)

  • Norman in his Park Avenue studio, New York, NY
    Courtesy of The Estate of Norman Bluhm and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY
  • NORMAN BLUHM (b. 1920 in Chicago, IL) attended the Armour Institute of Technology (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) and...
     Norman Bluhm in his Studio, Millbrook, NY, 1998
    Courtesy of The Estate of Norman Bluhm and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY
    Image courtesy of Don Ross

    NORMAN BLUHM (b. 1920 in Chicago, IL) 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 EĢcole 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; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, 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 Buffalo AKG Art Museum, 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 ofWales,Cardiff,Wales;the Newark Museum ofArt,NewYork,NY;the SmithsonianAmerican 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,VT.