Items Similar to Burning Woods
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 8
Louis RibakBurning Woods1966
1966
About the Item
Oil on masonite. Signed lower right and on verso.
30 x 24 in.
31 x 25 in. (framed)
Custom framed in maple.
Louis Leon Ribak was born in the Russian empirical governorate of Grodno in 1902. A long-disputed region that is ethnically Lithuanian, at present day, Grodno is located in the western reaches of the Republic of Belarus, near the borders with Poland and Lithuania.
At the age of ten, Ribak and his family immigrated to New York City. In 1922, he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, followed by studies at the Art Students League (1923) and the Educational Alliance (1924).
Ribak’s oeuvre can be largely delineated between two stylistic phases: social realism and abstraction, the former taking hold during the 1930s and 40s. During that period, he had several solo exhibitions at the A.C.A. Gallery in New York, while also regularly exhibiting with “An American Group Inc.” - a cohort of socially-conscious painters that included Stuart Davis, Reginald Marsh, Maurice Sterne, and Raphael Soyer. In 1933, Ribak assisted Diego Rivera on the mural for the lobby of Rockefeller Center, while also being employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as a muralist.
Louis Ribak met fellow artist Beatrice Mandelman at a dance sponsored by the Artists Union in New York. They were married in 1942, and shortly thereafter, he was drafted for military service in World War II.
After his discharge from the service in 1942 due to difficulties with asthma, Mandelman and Ribak traveled west to visit his former mentor John Sloan in Santa Fe, NM. By this time, the couple had become disenchanted with the art scene in New York, and in light of the need to find a healthier climate for Ribak’s asthma - as well as reputed FBI surveillance based on political affiliations with Communist sympathizers - they decided to permanently relocate to the emerging artists’ colony of Taos, NM in 1944. This change of scenery ushered in the second phase of Ribak’s stylistic career, with his work shifting from social realism toward abstraction. He was captivated by the landscape and the diverse cultures of northern New Mexico, the influences of which began to appear in his work.
Ribak founded the Taos Valley Art School in 1947, offering no ideology to his students; instead arguing that the adoption of a single approach would lead to academicism. Ribak was an integral force in the development of the Taos Moderns, an allied group of artists including Mandelman, Ed Corbett, Andrew Dasburg, Agnes Martin, Oli Sihvonen, and Clay Spohn. Ribak’s mature style was characterized as lyrical abstract expressionism.
In their life together, Ribak and Mandelman traveled widely and took yearly winter sojourns to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. With his “Canyon Series” and “Aegean Series,” Ribak embraced the abstracted form completely, though he never ceased to derive inspiration from working directly from nature. Throughout his life, he sketched and drew prolifically, his subject matter including rock, plant, and canyon forms; land and seascapes; portraits; animals; and urban and rural scenes.
Ribak exhibited frequently during his lifetime, most prominently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Venice Biennale, the Corcoran Gallery Biennial (Washington D.C.), the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Jewish Museum (New York). Beyond the aforementioned institutions, Ribak’s works can be found in numerous public and private collections around the world, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Dallas Museum, the Harwood Museum of the University of New Mexico (Taos), the Arizona State University Art Museum (Tempe, AZ), and the Newark Museum, among others.
Louis Ribak died in Taos in 1979.
Sources: Mandelman-Ribak Foundation; Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery
- Creator:Louis Ribak (1902-1972, American)
- Creation Year:1966
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Overall very good and stable condition. Inquire for additional details.
- Gallery Location:Austin, TX
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2287211547762
About the Seller
No Reviews Yet
Vetted Seller
These experienced sellers undergo a comprehensive evaluation by our team of in-house experts.
Established in 2020
1stDibs seller since 2023
Typical response time: 4 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Austin, TX
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 30 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- EdgeLocated in Austin, TXOil on board. Signed and dated lower right and verso, titled verso. 36.25 x 48 in. 40.5 x 52.25 in. (framed) Framed in contemporary silver, tiered floater frame. Dennis Eugene Norman Burton was a Canadian modernist who was born in Lethbridge, Ontario. He attended the Ontario College of Art from 1952 to 1956, and worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a graphic designer until 1960. Inspired by a 1955 exhibition of the “Painters Eleven” at Toronto’s Hart House, as well as American Abstract Expressionist artists such as Robert Motherwell, Jack Tworkov, and Willem de Kooning, Burton shifted his focus toward abstraction in the mid-1950s. Burton showed with the famed Isaacs Gallery in Toronto, becoming one of the youngest members on the gallery’s roster. A talented musician, he also played saxophone in the Artist’s Jazz Band in Toronto - a pioneering Canadian free-jazz group...Category
1950s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsMasonite, Oil, Board
- Paysage aux RochersBy Gabriel GodardLocated in Austin, TXOil on canvas. Signed and dated lower left. 51 x 38 in. 52.5 x 39.25 in. (framed) Framed in maple. Gabriel Godard, a self-taught painter, was born in 1933 in Delouze, France. Hist...Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Breach of DawnLocated in Austin, TXOil-based mixed media on canvas. Signed verso. 47.25 x 56 in. 48.25 x 57.25 in. (framed) Custom framed in white oak. Provenance Allan Stone Gallery, New York John Beardman...Category
1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsFabric, Canvas, Oil
- According to EquationLocated in Austin, TXOil on canvas. Signed, titled, dated verso. 67 x 66 inches67.75 x 66.75 inches (framed) Custom framed in a solid maple floater. Warren Rohrer was born...Category
1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- May DayLocated in Austin, TXOil on canvas. Signed lower right and on verso. 59 x 54 in. 60 x 55.25 in. (framed) Custom framed in a hickory floater. After World War II, William Quinn...Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Red-8Located in Austin, TXOil on canvas. Signed, titled, and dated on verso. 36.25 x 42 in. 37.25 x 43.25 in. (framed) Custom framed in maple. Provenance Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta Yoshishige Furukawa...Category
1990s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
You May Also Like
- Colorful Portrait Painting on Board by Peter KeilBy Peter KeilLocated in Hudson, NYThis modern abstract painting by Peter Keil is on a smooth masonite board with a painted grey background, black abstract portrait with many colors. Here you certainly see the Picasso...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
MaterialsMasonite, Acrylic, Board
- Abstracted Neutral Portrait Painting by Peter Keil - Black & TanBy Peter KeilLocated in Hudson, NYA beautiful Peter Keil original painting. Keil's signature style is shown in these Picasso inspired portraits. These portraits are characteristic of Keil's work in the 1980s when the...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsMasonite, Acrylic, Board
- Colorful Portrait Painting on Board by Peter KeilBy Peter KeilLocated in Hudson, NYThis modern abstract painting by Peter Keil is on a smooth masonite board with a painted grey background, black abstract portrait with many colors. Here you certainly see the Picasso...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
MaterialsMasonite, Acrylic, Board
- Colorful Portrait Painting on Board by Peter KeilBy Peter KeilLocated in Hudson, NYThis modern abstract painting by Peter Keil is on a smooth masonite board with a painted Tiffany Blue background, black abstract portrait with many ...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
MaterialsMasonite, Acrylic, Board
- Colorful Abstract Portrait Painting on Board- Rainbow Showers by Peter KeilBy Peter KeilLocated in Hudson, NYThis modern abstract painting by Peter Keil is on a smooth masonite board with a taupe background, black abstract portrait and showered with many colors. Here you certainly see the P...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
MaterialsMasonite, Acrylic, Board
- Colorful Portrait Painting on Board by Peter Keil w Tiffany Blue BackgroundBy Peter KeilLocated in Hudson, NYThis modern abstract painting by Peter Keil is on a smooth masonite board with a painted Tiffany Blue background, black abstract portrait. Here you ...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Figurative Paintings
MaterialsMasonite, Acrylic, Board