- Reuben Nakian
Infobox Artist
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name = Reuben Nakian
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birthdate = birth date |1897|8|10|
location =College Point, New York
deathdate = death date and age |1986|12|4|1897|8|10|
deathplace =Stamford, Connecticut
nationality = American
field =Sculpture
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awards =Reuben Nakian was an American
sculptor andteacher . He was born onAugust 10 1897 inCollege Point, New York and died onDecember 4 1986 inStamford, Connecticut .Nakian's recurring themes are from Greek and Roman mythology. Noted works include "Leda and the Swan", "The Rape of Lucrece", "Hecuba", and "Birth of Venus". He was also commissioned to create portraits of Roosevelt's cabinet in the 1930s.
In 1915 Nakian studied at the
Independent School of Art inNew York City , then studied at theRobert Henri School withHomer Boss andA.S. Baylinson . Later he studied at theArt Students League of New York and was apprenticed toPaul Manship . [ [http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=110510 Reuben Nakian - Biography Reuben Nakian ] ]Nakian met and befriended painters
Arshile Gorky andWillem de Kooning in the 1930s andMarsden Hartley andMarcel Duchamp in the 1940s.Poet
Frank O'Hara was the curator of a Nakian exhibit at theMuseum of Modern Art in 1966. In the exhibition's catalog, O'Hara notes,Nakian is unrepressed, un-neurotic, unabashed in his approach to sensuality, however tortuous his esthetic commitment, and whether his subject be death, bestiality, or Arcadian dalliance. This explicitness gives the "Nymph and Satyr" plaques a marvelous joy and ease, the "Europa" terra-cottas a voluptous dignity, and the "Leda and the Swan" drawings an almost comic abandon. Unlike most sexually oriented images in modern art, from
Auguste Rodin toAndy Warhol , one finds no guilt or masochism in a Nakian. It is outgoing and athletic even in its releases and defeats: the satyr, the bull, the swan, the goat are each circumvented or absorbed by the goddess of his choice in the most choice of circumstances, that of his own choosing, like the amorous "dying" of the Elizabethans or the Metamorphoses ofOvid .Work
Nakian's work is in the collections of
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park [http://www.decordova.org/decordova/sculp_park/nakian.htm] ,Fogg Art Museum [http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/collections/servlet/webpublisher.WebCommunication?ia=codetail&ic=basic&oid=11581&sq=1&tr=1&tech=&name=Nakian,%20Reuben&title=&objtype=&medspt=&dtfrom=&dtto=¢ury=&credit=&cult=&accnum=&pic=yes&aid=2938&icurrpage=1&isrc=singleartist] ,Smithsonian American Art Museum [http://americanart.si.edu/search/search_artworks1.cfm?StartRow=1&ConID=3486&format=short&db=onlyart&LastName=&FirstName=&Title=&Accession=&Keyword] ,Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden [http://hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/search.asp?Artist=Reuben+Nakian&Title=&Date=&Nationality=&School=] ,Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum ,Whitney Museum of American Art ,Los Angeles County Museum of Art [http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=browse&dept=prints&method=artist&searchtype=2&term=Nakian%2C%20Reuben] ,Nassau County Museum of Art [http://www.nassaumuseum.com/outdoor/outdoor_sculpturegallery.htm] ,Neuberger Museum of Art ,Oklahoma City Museum of Art ,University of Arizona Museum of Art ,University of Michigan Museum of Art [http://images.umdl.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?cc=musart;page=browse;key=musart_asn;c=musart;back=back1177935856;value=Nakian%2C%20Reuben;exact=1] ,Guilford College Art Gallery [http://www.guilford.edu/artgallery/Collect/Artlist/N/Nakian/Nakian.htm] ,Saint Joseph College Art Gallery ,Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art ,Sheldon Art Gallery [http://www.sheldonartgallery.org/collection/search.html?topic=list&search_var=Artist&clct_artist_full_name=Reuben+Nakian&clct_id=6217] ,Walker Art Center [http://collections.walkerart.org/item/agent/471] ,National Gallery of Australia [http://www.nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Default.cfm?MnuID=SRCH&GalID=ALL&ArtistIRN=22576&Alpha=N] [ [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/nakian_reuben.html Reuben Nakian Online ] ]
[ [http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/search/Search_Grid.aspx?searchtype=MUSEUMS&artist=110510# Reuben Nakian - Museums Reuben Nakian ] ] ,Portland Art Museum Teaching
Nakian taught at Newark's Fine Arts and Industrial Arts College and at
Pratt Institute in New York City. Among Nakian's students from his days teaching at the Newark School of Fine Arts is sculptorLarry McCabe and painter and sculptorAnthony Triano .References
Books
* Marika Herskovic, [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/50666793&tab=holdings "New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists,"] (New York School Press, 2000.) ISBN 0-9677994-0-6
External links
* [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/nakian81.htm] Transcript of 1981 interview with Nakian
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