Sigmund Abeles
American, born 1934Seated Figure, ca. 1959
Not on view
Woodcut on paper
Dimensions8 1/2 × 7 in. (21.6 × 17.8 cm)
Image: 4 × 5 in. (10.2 × 12.7 cm)
Gift of Mr. Jack. B. Pierson in memory of Mr. Robert Martin Purcell, 1979.150
Like the German Expressionists, Sigmund Abeles uses the harsh severity of the carved line to create an emotionally charged rendering. The contrast between the black ink and the white of the paper gives us a feeling of immediacy and empathy with the solitary figure curled up in the winged chair.
Born in 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, Sigmund Abeles grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Following graduation in 1955 from USC with a BA in Fine Arts, Abeles studied at the Art Students League of New York, and received a Masters in Fine Arts from Columbia University in 1957. Abeles' work has been critically acclaimed and he has been a member of the prestigious National Academy since 1990. Some of his awards are: National Institute of Fine Arts & Letters Award, National Council of Arts & Humanities Sabbatical Grant, and Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant for Graphics. His works are in permanent collections of leading institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
