Ilya Bolotowsky
American, born Russia, 1907 - 1981Untitled, n.d.
Not on view
Silkscreen on paper
Dimensions35 7/8 × 25 13/16 in. (91.1 × 65.6 cm)
Image: 34 × 9 5/8 in. (86.4 × 24.4 cm)
Gift of Mr. Fred Yaffe, 1978.56.1
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ilya Bolotowsky immigrated with his parents during the Russian Revolution first living in Istanbul, and finally settling in the United States.
He studied at the National Academy of Design in New York, 1924-30, and was painting in a semi-abstract style until 1933, when he first saw Mondrian’s paintings in an exhibition in New York. Since that period, his style evolved from paintings influenced by Miró and the Russian Suprematists to a through and complex investigation of the Neo-Plastic aesthetic originated by Mondrian and the De Stijl artists.
Bolotowsky was one of the co-founders of the American Abstract Artists Association in 1936, and he was Acting Chairman of the art department at Black Mountain College in 1946-48. A noted teacher and lecturer, Bolotowsky also wrote plays and produced experimental film.
