Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Diana Kurz
"June" Diana Kurz, Abstract Colorist Composition New York Abstract Expressionism

1960s

$4,500
£3,435.63
€3,935
CA$6,304.48
A$7,049.18
CHF 3,697.59
MX$85,382.49
NOK 46,674.79
SEK 44,096.40
DKK 29,370.86

About the Item

Diana Kurz June Watercolor and pastels on board 17 x 23 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's family fled Austria, first to England and then to the United States. Kurz spent her childhood in Brooklyn and Queens, New York before earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Brandeis University (1957) and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting (1960) at Columbia University, where she studied with John Heliker, “one of the rare professors who encouraged his female students”, as Kurz later recalled. Kurz was awarded a Fulbright Grant that gave her the opportunity to live and paint in France (1965–66), where Jean Hélion became a mentor. While there, she began to paint still life compositions that incorporated both living and inanimate objects, such as vases, bowls, and porcelain figures combined with flowers and vegetables; this was Kurz’s first attempt to merge images of impermanence with ones of deeper historical relevance. After returning from France, Kurz turned to figural compositions, which had interested her since 1963. In 1968 and 1969 while at Yaddo residencies, she became close with Philip Guston, one of her idols. In the early 1970s, Kurz began painting nude figures in her SoHo studio, from direct observation, often using mirrors to reflect fragments of their bodies, as in Rosaire at Window (1972). At the same time, she was responding intuitively to color and using numerous hues in her paintings. She was influenced by Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse, and was more concerned with creating a compelling composition than addressing spatial illusions. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Kurz painted studio models and portraits, often in a drawing group which included Lois Dodd, Mercedes Matter, and Philip Pearlstein. In 1981, she began an extensive exploration of still life in which she focused on arrangements of commercially produced ceramic objects, which she purchased inexpensively and chose for their lack of traditional aesthetic value. Since the late 1960s, Kurz has identified as a feminist. She participated in the Women’s March for Peace (Jeannette Rankin Brigade) in Washington, D.C., in 1968 and joined the Women's Caucus for Art in 1972. She also exhibited in all-women and feminist shows, including First Open Show of Feminist Art (1971) in New York City. She was one of thirteen contributors to The Sister Chapel, a collaborative feminist installation that celebrated female role models. Kurz painted Durga (1977), for which she painstakingly studied numerous Indian examples and an actual devotee of the Hindu goddess, but retained her own distinctive painting technique. In the early 1960s, Kurz had begun to study Chinese and Japanese philosophy, as well as Eastern religion, which had a lasting influence on her approach to life and art. Between 1989 and 2003, Kurz created Remembrance (Holocaust), a series of paintings that memorialized the members of her family murdered in the Holocaust. The large, over life-size figures were inspired by old photographs, which Kurz saw in the possession of an elderly aunt who lived in California. Instead of merely enlarging the black-and-white photographs, Kurz used her imagination to embellish them and incorporated text, letters, and other media. She used bright colors because, as she explained, “I was often struck by the irony of the fact that terrible, unspeakable things occurred while the sky was blue, the weather beautiful, birds singing, etc.” In Self-Portrait (1999), Kurz appears to stand in front of Vienna, another painting from the series. She leans with her elbows resting on a table, as if physically in the same space—for the first time—as those of her diseased relatives. As observed by Evelyn Torton Beck, Kurz’s “philosophy of painting closely parallels feminist theories of relationship and process: color is relational. Painting is very much about relationships.” In 1998, Kurz exhibited a number of paintings from her Remembrance (Holocaust) series at the Bezirksmuseum Josefstadt in her birthplace, Vienna.
  • Creator:
    Diana Kurz (1938, American, Austrian)
  • Creation Year:
    1960s
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)Width: 23 in (58.42 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    Unique WorkPrice: $4,500
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Framing:
    Framing Options Available
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1841215862382

More From This Seller

View All
"Study for TH" Diana Kurz, Mid-Century Push And Pull Abstract Expressionist Work
By Diana Kurz
Located in New York, NY
Diana Kurz Study for TH Pastel and gouache on paper 21 1/2 x 20 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's family fled Austria, first...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Gouache

"Transparencies" Diana Kurz, Abstract Expressionist Mixed-Media Composition
By Diana Kurz
Located in New York, NY
Diana Kurz Transparencies Mixed media on board 16 x 12 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's family fled Austria, first to Engla...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media, Board

"Casper" Diana Kurz, New York Female Abstract Expressionist Gouache on Paper
By Diana Kurz
Located in New York, NY
Diana Kurz Casper Gouache on paper 11 x 17 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's family fled Austria, first to England and then ...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

"Light White" Diana Kurz, 1960s Abstract Expressionist Subtle Color Composition
By Diana Kurz
Located in New York, NY
Diana Kurz Light White Pastel on Paper 14 x 11 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's family fled Austria, first to England and t...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

"Summer Joy" Diana Kurz, circa 1960 Abstract Expressionist Colorist Composition
By Diana Kurz
Located in New York, NY
Diana Kurz Summer Joy, circa 1960 Signed and titled on verso Oil on canvas 70 1/2 x 66 1/4 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"OP #7" Diana Kurz, 1960-1961 Abstract Expressionist Vibrant Color Painting
By Diana Kurz
Located in New York, NY
Diana Kurz OP #7, 1960-61 Signed, titled, dated on verso Oil on canvas 66 x 52 1/2 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's family ...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

Moldovan Contemporary Art by Doïna Vieru - Untitled
By Doïna Vieru
Located in Paris, IDF
Watercolor on Canson paper 300 g The artwork will be shipped rolled up in a tube Doïna Vieru is an Ecuadorian-Moldavian artist born in 1978 who lives & works in France, Paris. She a...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Dream Abstraction #14" - abstract painting - colorful work on paper
By Eilis Crean
Located in Atlanta, GA
This work on paper is a colorful abstract featuring hues of red, green (citron), black and pink. It is framed without glass in a natural wood frame measuring 27 by 34 inches. The ar...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Archival Paper

Day, Painting, Watercolor on Paper
By Gesa Reuter
Located in Yardley, PA
Day and night belong together, just like light and dark, good and bad, sadness and happyness. This painting is part of the dyptichon "Day & Night", each 40x30 cm (both 40x60 cm), ...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Abstract, Impressionist Watercolor by Eve Nethercott
By Eve Nethercott
Located in Long Island City, NY
Eve Nethercott, American (1925 - 2015) - Abstract (P1.35), Year: circa 1957, Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Size: 18.5 x 23 in. (46.99 x 58.42 cm), Description: Eve Nethercott'...
Category

1950s Impressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Untitled, Abstract Expressionist Watercolor Painting by Soni Wallace
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Soni Wallace Title: Untitled - Abstract Year: circa 1962 Medium: Watercolor Size: 9.5 in. x 14 in. (24.13 cm x 35.56 cm)
Category

1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

"Dream Abstraction #3" - abstract painting - colorful work on paper
By Eilis Crean
Located in Atlanta, GA
This work on paper is a colorful abstract featuring hues of yellow and purple. It is framed without glass in a natural wood frame measuring 27 by 34 inches. The artwork and mat are coated and varnished. Eilis Crean is inspired by the works of Honoré-Victorin Daumier, Evie Hone...
Category

2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Archival Paper